Work first, fashion second for Princess Catherine’s royal return

Princess Catherine chose a familiar outfit for her latest official outing, reinforcing rumours that the fashion favourite wants to be known for more than her impeccable taste.

A candy-apple-red coat dress with a large bow across the collar, worn to Commonwealth Day celebrations at Westminster Abbey on Monday, is an unlikely choice to evade attention – but we’ve seen it before.

Princess Catherine in a red coat dress by Catherine Walker at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on Monday; wearing the same dress at a carols service at Westminster Abbey in 2021; in Erdem at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in 2023.Credit: Getty Images

The Catherine Walker “Beau Tie” coat dress, accessorised with matching suede Gianvito Rossi pumps, debuted at a carol service in December 2021. Even the four-strand pearl necklace with a diamond clasp, previously worn by Queen Elizabeth, clung to Catherine’s neck at the late monarch’s funeral.

Topped off with a conservative pillbox hat, the elegant but restrained ensemble fuelled rumours that emerged last month when a palace source told The Times: “There is an absolute feeling that it [the public-facing work] is not about what the princess is wearing.”

“She wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting.”

Kensington Palace was forced to deny reports it would stop providing details of Catherine’s outfits to the media, but the recycling of the red dress and a recent appearance at the National Portrait Gallery in an understated mocha blazer and pinstripe pants sent its own message: work first, fashion second (hand).

The National Portrait Gallery visit followed the announcement that Catherine is in remission from cancer.

The princess kept a low profile while undergoing chemotherapy and has emerged with a new image. Compare the fashion-forward, wasp-waisted Erdem blazer with pleated peplum and matching skirt she wore to the Commonwealth Day service in 2023 with this year’s simpler silhouette.

Catherine’s fashion choices have helped drive sales for her chosen designers. The blue Issa dress she wore to the 2010 announcement of her engagement to Prince William sold out in 24 hours, creating the Kate Effect.

The princess’s image overhaul is also another example of fashion diplomacy.

The red outfit complemented, rather than upstaged, Queen Camilla’s pink Fiona Clare coat dress, in her preferred A-line silhouette, worn with a matching hat by Irish milliner Philip Treacy.

It is a style strategy adopted by Princess Anne, who arrived at the Commonwealth Day service in the same sea-green, geometric print coat she wore to the celebration in 2023. That item has been on high rotation in her wardrobe since 2013.

Last month Catherine reinforced her commitment to sustainable style, wearing a longline checked blazer by Blaze Milano while visiting a Mother and Baby Unit at a women’s prison. Catherine had worn the coat just four weeks earlier, when she visited cancer patients at Royal Marsden Hospital.

Princess Anne in the same coat at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on Monday and in 2023.Credit: Getty Images

The sustainability message is also favoured by King Charles, who regularly appears in well-worn coats. Catherine is well and truly one of the family.

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