Royal style: Kate/Meghan/Bea/Euj, Maxima/Mary/Letizia/Victoria

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Seeing as the Spencer wedding thread in S&B was so popular, here's a thread to discuss all royal fashion.

(If we could stick to critiquing the clothes rather than the women wearing them then that would be great!)

Oh yes. Her coats are just amazing.

Am I the only person not to be blown away by Sophie Wessex style ? I feel her clothes wear her a bit, rather than the other way round. Her recent Royal Wedding outfit to me seemed put of place at a May wedding, too structured, and made her look dumpy. I wpuld like to see her in something more flowy and for her to grow out that haircut. Before someone tells me off, this is Style and Beauty and that's what I'm critiquing. She is a very pretty woman and doubtless a lovely person too.

Most of the time I love the D of Cambridge's style. I think she's dressing for posterity - she's going to be Queen, and those formal pics on the balcony at various events etc are going to be in history books. There's a recent photo where in a way she didnt look all that, but on reflection she looked like a Princess of Wales (although she's not that yet but doubtless will be at some point).

I agree @user1457017537, both Duchesses give good coat!

We've only really seen Meghan's outfits since she got engaged, so it's been mainly cold weather clothes. It'll be interesting to see what the summer brings.

Apropos of nothing, a former colleague of mine once met Camilla and said that in person she looks very much like an older version of Diana! So I guess Charles had a type!!

I also read that everyone who meets Camilla loves her, she is apparently great fun and laughs a lot.

The same was said of Diana so yes I think Charles has a type.

Meghan’s got an advisor on protocol now, so I think she is trying hard to get the “ look” right. Ironically she did have her own style which was appropriate for a Hollywood actress, and at 36 she has to reinvent herself. I hope she finds a happy medium between edgy and duchess.

I think she should wear more Roland Mouret, Stella McCartney, Self Portrait. Emilia Wickstead ( if she hasn’t blotted her copybook too much with the wedding dress comments), McQueen.
It would bre great if she could find a stylist. There’s a lot of high end high street brands which she’s probably not aware of.

On another note, I’m looking forward to Prince Louis’s christening. I wonder how Kate will style the family, and will she do a throwback to William’s childhood with the white shirt red shorts combo.

Totally agree with pp who said Kate dresses for posterity. She is extremely media savvy.

Looking at those photos of Diana again, it's strange to think that William is now the age she was when she died. Even though she was only 36, she looks older in pictures. Not because she was prematurely aged or anything like that, she just seemed mature. Kate and Meghan are older than that now but come across as more youthful. Perhaps it's modern fashions vs 80s ones. Or maybe it's just because I'm from the generation that can remember watching Diana's wedding so she'll always be older to me!

Yes Queen I know what you mean. Diana does appear more mature than Kate & Meghan. She really was commanding the world stage when she died.
I remember her wedding too, and I will always think of her as older than me, even though I’m in my 40s

I have really enjoyed reading through this thread, lots of good thoughts and ideas! Personally I love following the royal family even though I am a bit of a republican in real life.

I wonder if Diana's apparent maturity comes from her being so young when she was thrust into the public eye - she went from nobody to world famous practically overnight and was in the public eye for nearly twenty years. I always though she was about forty when she died so I was surprised to learn she was only 36.

In regards to Sophie Wessex, I feel the same as Nigella - Sophie dresses well but I always feel the result could be a little more flattering to her great figure. I followed her last year when she did a sponsored cycle ride and tbh honest she looked great in sportswear, not dumpy at all.

I do think previous posters are correct about the Duchess of Cambridge - her fashion has changed recently, more mature styles, longer hemlines, shorter hair and tailored coats. More fitting into her position and less eye catching in a dramatic way.

I think the Duchesses long hair (because they keep it so groomed and well maintained) makes them youthful looking. In the same way, long uunstyled hair can make someone look beraggled and aging.

Diana did a lot too, she certainly made a mark, her work with HIV victims, which was so taboo and frightening for people in the 1980/1990s brought great publicity and put her on the workd’s stage for more than being a princess. Kate has added her name to the mental health campaign but has done very little else to make a mark. I’m aware comparisons are not helpful but I think Diana put herself out there, she seemed fearless.

She also married at such a young age and was in the public eye as ‘royalty’for so long, which is another reason why she seemed so mature.

Also she let her personality and emotions show which warmed her to people. Yes I know many will see she was a manipulator but at least she showed her personality, something Kate badly needs to do.

And finally Diana seemed real. Kate speaks in that clipped tone that is so false. She just tries too hard. William fell in love with her when she was her natural self. I think, given the chance, the public would too.

Re the photos of Diana in her 30s during the 1980s. I don’t feel Diana ever dressed her age. The outfits were much too old for her. I lived through that time and can safely say that mid-thirties was considered to be getting on and if you were mid-fifties then forget it! It was very ageist re fashion and what was appropriate if you were Royal. Even Diana’s off duty clothes were quite staid and it is a tribute to her beauty that she made them work. I have a friend who saw her and he said she was extremely beautiful if real life.

@Whitesea True. It seems fashionable to dismiss Diana as some sort of deranged drama queen these days but she did real work for AIDS/HIV awareness and when she hugged and kissed people with HIV it was quite groundbreaking, as there was so much prejudice around it at the time. I know people who worked at the HIV charity she was patron of and they said she'd often turn up without having alerted the press and was genuinely interested in the work they did.

I'm glad somebody mentioned Kate's clipped tone.
She sounds posher than William.
Most children speak as their family do.
I'm sure Carole Middleton doesn't speak like that, didn't she grow up in a council house/ flat ?
I hate fakery.

I saw an interview with Pippa and she sounds nothing like Kate.

I think some of them need to hoik their bosoms up a bit.

I watched that Diana in her own words documentary last year, which showed previously unseen clips of interviews with her. She sounded so genuinely posh! At one point William entered the room offscreen and she told him he could stay as long as he was "vair quaat". Even William and Harry don't sound as upper class as she did!

QueenoftheAndals
Diana was very upperclass/posh.
Have you seen Althorp where she grew up ?

Yes! At the time she married Charles a big deal was made about him marrying "a commoner" but she was about the closet thing to royalty you could get! Apparently her family were even posher than regular earls as her father was Earl Spencer rather than being an earl of somewhere.

In contrast I find that Kate sounds like she's trying too hard to be posh with her accent - it sounds a bit forced and stilted. I'm not sure she sounded quite like that in her engagement interview. William also called her Kate in it, so I'm not sure where all this "she's always called herself Catherine" nonsense came from.

I know, william and harry dont sound that posh!

Even the Queen doesn't sound as posh as she used to! If you listen to the recording she made on her 21st birthday, it's an accent that doesn't really exist anymore.

Carol Middleton sounds very upper middle class .
I wouldn’t say she sounds full on aristo like Diana. William & Harry speak very well, but they often drop the t’s at the end of their sentences.

Prince George really does look like his grandad doesn't he? The blond hair and twee outfits make people think he looks like William but if you look beyond those he's a mini Michael Middleton.

George is very like Michael Middleton for sure! Charlotte is like the Queen. I'd be very surprised if Kate doesn't have another baby, they need to expand the direct royal family.

Why do you say that @Whitesea? After all her morning sickness I'd be really surprised if she does! Plus I think they can see that in later life the non heir struggles to find a role - Andrew / Edward.

Edward seems harmless enough and just gets on with things. He and Sophie keep their heads down and do their work, and their kids are pretty much kept out of the public eye.

Andrew on the other hand comes across as arrogant, entitled and boorish, though his relationship with Fergie intrigues me. They clearly still care very much for each other and are very close, which makes me wonder why they got divorced in the first place rather than try to patch things up?