When it comes to how to dress as a woman in the Royal Family, Kate Middleton and her female counterparts have always followed Queen Elizabeth II’s rule
She is known for looking flawless on public engagements and when it comes to her clothing, Kate follows strict protocol.
The Princess of Wales is famed for her love of demure dresses, sharp trouser suits and glamorous gowns, and is always dressed to impress. But much of her style choices are dictated by historic rules surrounding what the women of the Royal Family should, and shouldn’t wear.
In her book HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style, fashion journalist Elizabeth Holmes said the protocol is influences by a ‘broader cultural insistence on sophisticated modesty, an expectation that they be composed and presentable at all times’.
“Members of the royal fashion have teams of people that would never let them be photographed in something that intentionally breaks a written fashion rule,” she wrote. “These women are very famous but they are not celebrities with free agencies. They cannot do or say what they please. They are working on behalf of the family and the Crown.”
And there’s one key rule that Kate always follows, but Meghan was never seemingly a fan, and it’s about tights. As with all royal women, Catherine is expected to wear nude or black tights when out on official engagements if wearing a dress or a skirt. The rule for official working members of the family isn’t written down but was made common practice by Queen Elizabeth II.
The somewhat old fashioned choice, with hosiery worn even in hot weather, is thought to be to maintain standards of royal ‘decency’. Expert Victoria Arbiter told Business Insider you ‘never see a royal without their nude stockings’, adding that tights are ‘really the only hard, steadfast rule in terms of what the Queen requires’.
Kate is rarely pictured at public events not wearing hosiery, sometimes swapping nude tights for sheer or opaque black ones. Meghan Markle followed suit in her first public engagement to Prince Harry by opting for nude tights. “Meghan did not wear a lot of nude stockings but then when she and the Queen appeared together she did,” said Elizabeth. “Kate leans into this stuff much more than Meghan did.”
Just like the late Queen Elizabeth II, stylish Kate opts for neutral or clear nail polish and she will often have outfits adapted to fit royal protocol, for example adding fabric panels to cover up sheer elements or open backs. She has also added sleeves to strapless gowns in a bid to appear more conservative.
Even children follow old fashioned rules when it comes to dressing for official royal engagements, including young boys wearing shorts. “Trousers are for older boys and men, whereas shorts on young boys is one of those silent class markers that we have in England,” expert William Hanson told Harper’s Bazaar. “Although times are (slowly) changing, a pair of trousers on a young boy is considered quite middle class – quite suburban. And no self-respecting aristo or royal would want to be considered suburban.”