The Princess of Wales arrived today at a VE Day service held at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the liberation of Europe after World War Two wearing both a sensitive tribute and the sort of gentle nod to fashion's favourites she has become known for.
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Her Royal Highness arrived alongside husband Prince William wearing a polka dot dress from Alessandra Rich, which is a rewear for the Princess. Here, she teamed the long-sleeved style with a black Juliette Botterill hat that she was last seen wearing at Remembrance Sunday in 2024. Where she might have easily looked to bookend the black and white outfit with the typical black shoes and bag, she instead carried a tan bag by DeMellier and matching leather pumps.
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Looking to the Princess' outfit for cues that hint to the ever-appropriate diplomatic dressing that has defined her wardrobe since she became a royal in 2011 is easy. Firstly, consider the colour palette. The engagement was both a celebration of the war effort and a somber tribute to the lives lost during the conflict meaning that an all-black look might have felt too downbeat, too close to mourning dress, while anything too bright might have felt equally inappropriate. It's also worth nothing that Her Majesty Queen Camilla was also in black and white. Let's wonder if they popped the matching outfit idea in the family Whatsapp chat.
With the colour palette well considered, the Princess was then able to add some typical flair and choose polka dots as she so often does. Like her mother-in-law Princess Diana before her, Catherine is, well, simply dotty about all-things spotty. Her rewearing of the style is timely as the pattern is trending on and off the catwalk for the season ahead put forward for the new season by designers from Jacquemus to Valentino.
The tribute to her late mother-in-law didn't end in wearing her preferred pattern. Catherine, who wore her hair in a well-coiffed bun at the nape of her neck, arrived at the Abbey wearing Princess Diana's Collingwood pearl earrings. What's most noteworthy about these is that they came from Diana's personal collection rather than anything belonging to the royal family. While she wore them throughout her life (including before her wedding), their most poignant outfit had to be in 1994 with 'The Revenge Dress.'
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