The Duchess of Cambridge seemed to be showing her thrifty side yesterday by wearing a McQueen coat she previously wore on three high profile occasions.
However, it seems that the Duchess makes a point of re-wearing her old outfits to weddings for a very important reason – so as not to upstage the bride.
Mother-of-three Kate, 36, has the ability to grab headlines with her outfits, and the clothes she wears can easily spark a shopping frenzy and sell out in hours.
So it seems that the royal is careful not to draw too much attention to herself by turning up in an ensemble that fans have already seen at least once before.
The savvy royal used the same trick when she attended the wedding of Zara Phillips to rugby player Mike Tindall in July 2011 three months after she married Prince William.
Newlywed Kate was still very much the centre of attention following her own nuptials, but she deflected the limelight by wearing a Day Birger et Mikkelsen coat she had sported for Laura Parker Bowles’ wedding five years earlier.
The Duchess of Cambridge yesterday recycled a pale yellow Alexander McQueen coat for Harry and Meghan’s wedding – so as not to take any attention from the bride
The thrifty royal in a much-worn Day Birger et Mikkelsen coat for Laura Parker Bowles’ wedding in 2006, which she got out of the closet again for Zara and Mike Tindall’s marriage in 2011
Kate in a £36 Topshop dress during a visit to the opening of the Warner Bros Studios in April 2013. She recycled the same frock a month later to attend the wedding of William van Cutsem and Rosie Ruck Keene
During her pregnancy with Prince George the Duchess attended the wedding of William van Cutsem and Rosie Ruck Keene, again knowing that all eyes would be on her bump in anticipation of the birth of her first child.
She chose a very low key outfit in the form of a £38 polka dot dress from Topshop she had worn a month earlier to visit the opening of the Warner Bros Studios in Hertfordshire.
Yesterday, Kate wore a primrose yellow silk tailored coat by Alexander McQueen – the label behind her own wedding gown – that she’s previously worn on no less than three high profile occasions.
She was first seen in the designer piece for the christening of Princess Charlotte back in July 2015, and then wore it again a year later for the Trooping of the Colour in June 2016.
At the Order of the Garter ceremony in 2011, the Duchess wore a pale grey coat by Katherine Hooker, which she got out of the wardrobe a year later in June 2012 for the wedding of William’s cousin Emily McCorquodale to James Hutt
Kate’s outfit choice may seem familiar to some royal watchers as she has worn the Alexander McQueen no less than three times before. Pictured, left to right: At Charlotte’s christening in July 205, at Trooping of the colour in June 2016 and during her visit to belgium in July 2017
The Duchess of Cambridge yesterday showed off a new accessory in the form of a dazzling citrine ring on her right hand
She was seen most recently wearing it at the Passchendaele commemoration service during a visit to Belgium back in July last year.
And Kate, who gave birth to her third child, Prince Louis, less than a month ago, wore her investment piece once again today at the wedding of the year, teaming it with an oversized Philip Treacy hat and Jimmy Choo heels.
However the Duchess was wearing something new in the form of a dazzling citrine ring on her right hand.
It was a royal wedding watched by millions, but some of the most meaningful moments happened off-camera — and in silence.
On May 19, 2018, as Meghan Markle made her way down the aisle to marry Prince Harry, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, arrived quietly, dressed in a soft, familiar pale yellow Alexander McQueen coatdress — the exact same outfit she had worn to Princess Charlotte’s christening years earlier.
It wasn’t a coincidence.
Royal watchers now believe the choice was deliberate: a silent act of humility, ensuring that no headlines would be stolen from the bride. No bold new designer, no dazzling new hat. Kate’s appearance that day said one thing: “This is your moment.”
At the time, Meghan didn’t comment publicly. But now, seven years later, a personal note she wrote to Kate has been quietly uncovered — and it reveals just how much the gesture meant.
The letter, found during a private archiving project at Kensington Palace, is dated just days after the wedding. Written in Meghan’s distinct cursive on Windsor Palace stationery, it reads:
“Dear Catherine,
I know we never had a quiet moment that day — but I saw you. I saw the choice you made, and I’ll never forget it.
You taught me, in a single gesture, what it means to be gracious when the world is watching.
That kind of thoughtfulness doesn’t go unnoticed, not by women like me.
Thank you — for showing me how to enter this world with dignity, not noise.”
With warmth and respect,
Meghan
Royal aides say the letter was kept private at Meghan’s request. Only now, with both duchesses having carved very different public paths, has its existence quietly come to light.
Why now? Some insiders suggest it’s part of a growing effort to “restore warmth” between the women — or at least, remind the public that things weren’t always cold.
Others believe the leak may have been unintentional — or strategic.
Either way, the letter offers a rare, intimate window into a moment of mutual respect between two very different royal women — one seasoned, one newly arrived — who, for one day, were simply two women navigating impossible expectations with quiet grace.