Revealed: Royal women and their secret army of stylists

The royal women are in top fashion form this season, with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, ahead with a new-found sense of whimsy in her wardrobe, and former style outsiders princesses Beatrice and Eugenie closing in on her with on-trend picks. So who is helping them behind the scenes?

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The Windsor women are in top fashion form this season, with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, galloping ahead with a new-found sense of whimsy in her wardrobe, and former style outsiders princesses Beatrice and Eugenie closing in on her with confident on-trend picks.

With Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, temporarily out of the running on maternity leave, the fashion field is wide open. So where has all this sudden sartorial style come from?

The answer is the fashion advisers secretly working away behind the seams.

Here’s who the royal women have in their closets.

CATHERINE, DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE

Stylists: Natasha Archer and Virginia Chadwyck-Healey

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, has two stylists. Picture: Yui Mok/AFP

Much has been made of Catherine’s new sense of fashion fun and the answer is down to both her trusted stylist Natasha Archer and new recruit Virginia “Ginnie” Chadwyck-Healey,
an old friend and former editor at Vogue, who has been helping out while Natasha is on maternity leave.

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Earlier this month, Natasha was awarded the Royal Victorian Order for her services and while Tatler magazine maintains Catherine’s new look is down to Natasha, Ginnie has clearly had an impact, with the duchess’s noticeably more fashion-forward picks of culottes, pussy-bow blouses and wide leg pants and mixing labels such as Gucci and Jigsaw, Missoni and Mulberry.

MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX

Stylist: Jessica Mulroney

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has the help of stylist and best friend Jessica Mulroney. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty

Meghan’s British stylist is not known, with many insiders insisting she picks her own outfits, although someone is certainly responsible for sourcing them.

She still relies on best friend and stylist Jessica Mulroney who was there in the run-up to her wedding and helped during her Australian tour.

Throughout her pregnancy Meghan dazzled with her maternity wear — from the one-shouldered black Givenchy evening gown she wore to the British Fashion Awards last year to the cream Dior dress she sported in Morocco in February.

Meghan has remained true to her signature style, picking high-end labels in mostly plain colours, matched with towering Manolo Blahnik and Aquazzura heels.

PRINCESS BEATRICE

Stylist: Herself

Mocked by the British press for her past style choices, Princess Beatrice has come into her own this year, with some serious style choices that put the rank outsider back in the race.

Sporting an on-trend navy lace frock by Self-Portrait, to Lady Gabriella Windsor’s wedding last weekend, she followed it up with a green full-length gown from the same label for the evening.

Beatrice has a quirky sense of style, enjoying statement pieces like the much-maligned Philip Treacy hat she wore to Prince William and Catherine’s wedding in 2011.

She has employed stylists in the past including Charlie Anderson, Emma Watson’s dresser, but it looks like she’s simply found her form.

Princess Beatrice has her own sense of style. Picture: Frank Augstein/AFP

Princess Eugenie has established her own style. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty

PRINCESS EUGENIE

Stylist: Sarah Price

Similarly, Princess Eugenie is winning style-wise and having the best season of her fashion life, since her wedding to Jack Brooksbank last October.

She enlisted the help of Irish stylist Sarah Price, who has been working with the princess for the past few years and Eugenie stunned in her Peter Pilotto wedding gown and pretty pink
Zac Posen dress for her reception.

She has toned down her penchant for flamboyant choices and instead opted for simple but chic dresses from brands such as Maje and Eponine, and even debuted a floral Erdem dress before Catherine wore it this week at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II sticks to her own fashion formula. Picture: Jeremy Selwyn/AFP

THE QUEEN

Stylist: Angela Kelly

Every fashionista knows when you discover your signature style, you keep true to it, and what better example of this than the Queen, who has run the long race by sticking with a fashion formula.

Some decades ago, she worked out jewelled-coloured coat dresses and matching hats suited her and she’s gone with it ever since, appearing in a veritable Pantone colour palette of sorbet shades over the years.

Unlike some of the younger royal women, instead of expensive designer brands, the Queen’s secret weapon is Angela Kelly, her dresser turned wardrobe curator and designer, who has been responsible for whipping up some of her brightest ensembles, including the lemon outfit she wore to William and Kate’s wedding and the duck-egg blue suit she sported to London Fashion Week last year.

Originally published as Revealed: Royal women and their secret army of stylists