The Duchess of Cambridge E-Book

Bethan Holt

• Herausgeber: Ryland Peters & Small
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Thrust into the global spotlight on her engagement to Prince William, Kate wore a sapphire blue wrap dress by London-based label Issa that promptly sold out. It was the first step in Kate's evolution to become the modern royal style icon she is today – the Duchess of Cambridge. In the decade since, Kate has become the Duchess of Cambridge, a future Queen and a mother of three. Her outfits range from high street to haute couture, with women worldwide fascinated by her style and eager to copy it. The Duchess has used her clothing to make diplomatic gestures, to send messages of solidarity and to show respect. One day, her wardrobe underscores her status as a senior royal; the next it's all about being just like any 30-something Mum. But thanks to an explosion of 24/7 news coverage and social media, her choices are analysed more closely than those of any royal before. In this book, Bethan Holt marks the tenth anniversary of Kate's royal life by taking readers on a highly illustrated journey through the Duchess's style evolution.

Leseprobe

THE

DUCHESS OF

CAMBRIDGE

THE

DUCHESS OF

CAMBRIDGE

A decade of modern royal style

BETHAN HOLT

Senior designer Toni Kay

Senior commissioning editor Annabel Morgan

Head of production Patricia Harrington

Art director Leslie Harrington

Editorial director Julia Charles

Publisher Cindy Richards

First published in 2020 by

Ryland Peters & Small

20–21 Jockey’s Fields,

London WC1R 4BW

and

341 East 116th Street

New York, NY 10029

www.rylandpeters.com

Text copyright © Bethan Holt 2020

Design copyright © Ryland Peters & Small 2020

Photographs copyright © Shutterstock

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-1-78879-302-5

E-ISBN: 978-1-78879-369-8

The author’s moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress CIP data has been applied for.

Printed and bound in China

CONTENTS

Introduction

From Kate to Duchess

The Kate effect

Duchess of the high street

Kate the great recycler

Kate on tour

Harnessing the power of fashion

The stylists

Kate’s royal year

Casual Kate

Motherhood

Regal glamour

Kate’s best of British

Jewellery & accessories

Channelling Diana

A new fashion chapter

Fashion firsts

Index

Picture credits

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION

It was in 2010 that Prince William asked his girlfriend of eight years, Kate Middleton, to become his wife and future queen. It was also the year that Instagram was created, that Twitter allowed users to see images for the first time and Facebook reached 500 million users.

Our fascination with what the Royal Family wears is nothing new. Royals are the original celebrities. They have set trends for centuries, through all manner of upheavals, crises and wars, and their steadfast glamour has offered an anchor and been a source of joy and celebration – there is nothing, after all, quite like a royal wedding.

Fashion has forever been one of royalty’s most powerful tools, a time-defying way to assert influence and communicate messages. Think of King Henry VIII’s magnificently stuffed doublets, Queen Elizabeth I’s extravagant ruffs or Queen Victoria’s decision to wear a white wedding dress, which remains a custom to this day. And, of course, Prince William’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales who dazzled the world with her fashion choices, telling the story of her extraordinary life through the medium of clothes.

When Kate Middleton stepped onto the stage, the landscape had changed beyond recognition from the genteel tradition of portraiture of centuries past. News was no longer reported day by day on the front pages of newspapers, but minute by minute via websites and social media. Anyone, anywhere in the world, could discover what Kate was wearing within an hour of her stepping out, with dozens of images capturing every outing from all imaginable angles.

In this unique combination of circumstances, the scene was set for the future Duchess of Cambridge – a sporty, middle class ‘normal’ girl from Berkshire – to become a new kind of royal style icon. Kate’s normality was essential to conjuring her own brand of majestic magic. Her marriage to William saw her living a fairytale that many young girls had dreamed of for generations before her. This was not another aristocratic Sloane Ranger, but a girl who had been born to a flight attendant and flight dispatcher and was now destined to be Queen Consort one day.

A decade on and Kate’s effect on fashion is impossible to understate – she has had dresses named after her, set trends, inspired superfans around the world and has been credited with boosting the British fashion industry by up to £1 billion in a single year.

Wasn’t it inevitable that a beautiful new royal would become an influencer like no other? In a word, no. If Diana dared to experiment with fashion in a way royalty never had before, then Kate has, over the years, created her very own royal style template, which is mindful of both the weight of history and the 21st-century prism through which her outfits are interpreted.

Kate’s penchant for Zara hairbands and Topshop maternity dresses couldn’t be further from the elevated costumes of royals past, but her purpose in choosing those items is exactly the same: a way to tell the world who she is and what we might like to think about her. Where Elizabeth I’s armillary sphere earring in one painting signifies her divine power, so the Duchess’s high street purchases portray her as relatable and democratic, allowing her fans to buy into her look – on the night she wore that Zara hairband in November 2019, it sold out within hours.

There have been glamorous evening gowns, too – many of these pieces are custom-made for the Duchess and cost thousands of pounds. These looks are not only befitting of the occasions for which they’re worn, but serve as a reminder of the royals’ unique place in power and politics.

The Duchess’s decade as a royal has coincided with feminism dominating the zeitgeist, raising questions about what it means to be a royal woman today. When William’s brother Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018, she declared herself a feminist and made working on women’s issues a cornerstone of her work. Kate has not publicly declared her support for feminism, but her extensive work with children and on mental health has seen her address some of the fundamental difficulties faced by women in a more subtle way.

The Duchess of Cambridge wearing a Luisa Spagnoli sweater, jeans and Superga trainers at a Heads Together reception at Kensington Palace in April 2017.

She has certainly been on the receiving end of commentary on the portrayal of women, which has painted her – or what she represents – in a less than flattering light. Most famous were words from a speech made by the author Hilary Mantel in 2013. She argued that Kate had been depicted as a ‘jointed doll on which certain rags are hung… In those days [Kate] was a shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own, entirely defined by what she wore.’

It’s true that the Duchess’s appearance is central to her appeal, a fact that might be disheartening for some. But I prefer to see fashion not as something that has obscured her real character, but a vital and potent device that she has learned to deploy with huge success. Just because it is a device used more often by women than men shouldn’t detract from the influence it has nor the respect it deserves.

‘Kate understood early on that fashion is a tool and that the messages it sends to draw attention to a cause are incredibly powerful, so why not capitalize on that?’ says Susan Kelley, the founder of What Kate Wore, a website that has documented Kate’s fashion since her marriage. ‘In an ideal world, there wouldn’t be fashion coverage and the discussion would be about early years or children’s hospices, but the understanding was there that that’s not how the world operates.’

Far from being a mere clothes horse, Kate has become fluent in the language of clothing, working out a way to look the part without allowing it to consume her. The Duchess has used it to make diplomatic gestures, to send messages of solidarity and to show respect. She has oscillated between eschewing and embracing trends. At times, her wardrobe underscores her status as wife of a future king; in the next outfit, it’s all about being just like any normal British 30-something mum.

Fashion is not what defines the Duchess of Cambridge, but her clothing choices tell a captivating story about the woman who will be one of the most famous of the 21st century.

The Duchess of Cambridge wearing Erdem at a dinner given by David Cains, the British Ambassador to Sweden, during the Cambridges’ visit in January 2018.

Kate Middleton attends Prince William’s passing out parade at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in December 2006.

FROM KATE to duchess

‘She was destined for that role really; she hasn’t put a foot wrong,’ says Richard Ward, the hairdresser who has tended to Kate’s locks since university. ‘I think she’s evolved into that role seamlessly – I’m sure it hasn’t been seamless, but she makes it appear that way.’

If Kate’s life story appears like a modern-day fairytale, then the time before she married William is pivotal. How do you evolve from a normal student and star hockey player to a Royal Family member so valued that you are given the Royal Victorian Order by the Queen? When your apparent fairytale contains as many twists and turns as Kate’s did, from coping with life in limbo as she and William waited until their late twenties to marry to navigating a painful, albeit brief, break-up in the glare of the public eye, the evolution becomes even more compelling.

Anyone who has spent time with Kate always returns to one fundamental aspect of her personality: her resolute, quietly confident sense of self. ‘She’s got a sense of her own style. It doesn’t feel like she’s been swayed by anyone or anything, she’s just her own person,’ adds Ward. ‘I think that’s what’s won her through.’

Daniella Helayel of Issa, Kate’s go-to designer during her twenties and the creator of her famous engagement dress, recalls her being ‘a wonderful girl. She’s as good as you can get.’ This sweetness and light, coupled with a generous soupçon of determination, is the strategy that saw Kate through the girlfriend years, as evidenced by the looks that exhibit her steady transformation into a future queen on her own terms.

THE DRESS THAT LAUNCHED A ROYAL ROMANCE, MARCH 2002

Legend has it that the sparks of William and Kate’s romance were ignited on 26 March 2002, when the Prince bought a front-row seat at the St Andrews University Charity Fashion Show. At this point they were friends, but it was a gossamer-fine, slip-of-a-thing dress, designed by textiles student Charlotte Todd, that would set Kate on the path to joining the Royal Family. When Kate sashayed out in the gold and black silk see-through design, William reportedly turned to his friend Fergus Boyd and said, ‘Wow, Fergus, Kate’s hot!’

‘I think the dress showed the “naughty” side of the Duchess,’ says auctioneer Kerry Taylor, who would go on to sell the dress nine years later. ‘Charlotte intended the transparent garment to be worn as a skirt with a slip underneath. The fact that Kate chose to wear it as a dress perhaps indicates not only her intention to grab the Prince’s attention, which it obviously did, but her sense of fun. Charlotte had no idea that her student piece would create such a stir. Kate’s athletic figure certainly looked great in it.’

Images of Kate in the LBD shot to fame once the royal romance was revealed, depicting her as an adventurous risk-taker and allowing the world to see her in the same way William had that night – though the story is undoubtedly more nuanced than one sudden moment of attraction.

Todd had made the skirt/dress for a project entitled The Art of Seduction as part of her course at the University of the West of England, and sent it in response to a request for pieces for the St Andrews show, unaware that her creation would go on to play a role in history. Weeks before Kate and William’s eventual marriage, Todd decided to part with her design, entrusting its sale to Taylor.

‘I will never forget that auction – the room was packed to bursting,’ Taylor remembers. ‘We had telephone and commission bids, but suddenly a young man put up his hand and started bidding. He was taking bidding instructions on his mobile phone and there was a murmur of excitement in the room as the price crept upwards. Who was on the other end of that mobile was anyone’s guess. Many of the press assumed it was Prince William. When I banged down the hammer in favour of the unknown bidder, he started to be mobbed by the press pack. I jumped off the rostrum and got my staff to take him to safety in the back office. Once the sale was over, I sneaked him out of a back door, but a TV cameraman spotted us and soon the whole press mob was in hot pursuit but we managed to get him away. It wasn’t purchased by Prince William but by a collector of celebrity memorabilia who purchased it as an investment.’

All that is known about the purchaser is that he was identified as ‘Nick from Jersey’. He paid £65,000 for the barely-there dress. Taylor remembers him saying, ‘Just think – one day I can say this was worn by the Queen of England!’

As for Kate, she has only once commented publicly on the dress that allegedly determined the course of her life. ‘I hope you weren’t involved in the fashion show,’ she said to a group of St Andrews students in 2012 at the university’s 600th anniversary charity celebration. ‘You never know what you are going to be asked to wear.’

Kate on the catwalk in a Charlotte Todd dress at the St Andrews University Charity Fashion Show, 2002.

THE ROYAL GIRLFRIEND, DECEMBER 2006

The early years of Kate and William’s relationship were mostly shrouded in secrecy. But when the Prince passed out from Sandhurst, having completed his Army officer training, the opportunity was taken to confirm that Middleton was special. It’s hardly surprising that engagement rumours began to swirl after her appearance at the parade, where she appeared a consummate princess-in-training.

It was a bitterly cold winter day but Kate showed grit by not bundling up in unphotogenic layers. Instead she chose a bold scarlet coat that coordinated with the red details on William’s Number 1 ceremonial uniform. Aged 25 at the time, she looked poised if a little beyond her years in the Armani design (see page 10).

Wearing a wide-brimmed black hat created by leading milliner Philip Treacy proved that Kate was already well versed in the royal requirement to rise to the occasion. Indeed, she has gone on to re-wear it twice as a Duchess, in 2012 and 2017. She also re-wore the coat in 2013.

If Kate’s outfit suggested that she was preparing to assume an official royal role, there was still evidence that this was also a simple case of girl loves boy. ‘I love the uniform,’ Kate was overheard saying to her mother as they watched the parade, ‘It’s so, so sexy.’

Kate and Pippa at the book launch for Simon Sebag Montefiore’s Young Stalin, May 2007.

THE BREAK-UP DRESS, MAY 2007

Hopes of an imminent royal wedding were dashed when news broke that William and Kate had ended their relationship in April 2007 and Kate faced the prospect of negotiating life as a young single woman who had not long ago seemed on the verge of becoming royal. Just a couple of months later, she transformed her image, showing William what he was missing.

Kate’s most powerful display of what might be called revenge dressing came at a book launch in May. With Pippa in tow, Kate opted for a lace shift dress by Australian designer Collette Dinnigan. Complemented by her relaxed blow-dry, there was a lingerie feel to the outfit that was at once elegant and just daring enough. Within months, Kate and William had rekindled their romance, and though a wedding was still a way off, there was now clarity and security.

Kate on skates at the Day-Glo Midnight Roller Disco fundraiser, September 2008.

THE ROLLER DISCO, SEPTEMBER 2008

If commentators had assumed that, with a future as a royal wife practically assured, Kate Middleton would appear demure and appropriate at all times, she confounded them by embracing the day-glo dress code for a fundraising roller disco in 2008.

There are countless shots from this time of Kate in sweet summer dresses and skirt suits, so Middleton in party girl mode, enjoying a night with friends rather than being concerned with protocols, was an exciting departure.

Several aspects of the evening grabbed headlines, from Kate’s yellow hotpants to her sequined halter-neck top to her dramatic flop onto the dance floor. There was one concession to discretion, however: she sported glossy nude tights with her shorts and fuchsia legwarmers.

The appeal of seeing Kate like this is simple. It reveals a natural, joyful side of her personality, unaffected by duty or formalities – especially meaningful now that she is a decade into royal life and one of the most popular senior members of the Royal Family.

Kate and Prince William at the wedding of Harry Meade and Rosemarie Bradford, October 2010.

THE WEDDING GUEST LOOK, OCTOBER 2010

A quintessential Kate Middleton genre of dressing was the wedding-guest look. In the pre-engagement years, the nuptials of friends and relatives were prime opportunities to spot William’s girlfriend. Kate’s outfits reflected her natural elegance and a consciousness that, while photographers might have turned out for a glimpse of her, she was determined not to upstage the bride.

One of these outings was the wedding of their friend Harry Meade to Rosemarie Bradford at St Peter and St Paul’s church in Gloucestershire. Kate and William arrived together, tanned after a holiday in Kenya.

Having been introduced to designer Daniella Helayel by a friend in 2005, her label Issa had become a favourite of Kate’s. Now she turned to Issa for a knee-length cobalt dress teamed with a black nipped-waist jacket and suede heels. Charmingly, Kate’s saucer hat had been rented for £100 from loan service Get Ahead Hats.

Less than a month later, the reason for Kate and William’s evident happiness would be revealed. And an even more iconic Issa dress would be born.

Announcing the engagement at St James’s Palace, November 2010.

THE ENGAGEMENT DRESS

On 16 November 2010, St James’s Palace confirmed the engagement of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton. It was the culmination of a long relationship, drawn out to allow the couple years of relative freedom and privacy before taking on the pressures of royal duties.

Kate’s style had already captivated the public, but that interest went stratospheric when she stepped out for the official photocall in a £385 silk jersey wrap dress by Issa. Its inky blue shade coordinated meticulously with the ring: 14 solitaire diamonds surrounding a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire that had been created by Garrard in 1981 as engagement ring for William’s mother Diana, and was inspired by the ‘something blue’ brooch given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert to celebrate their wedding in 1840.

The response was immediate and dramatic for Issa – the design sold out, press interest in the label skyrocketed and high-street brands rushed to create affordable imitations. ‘That dress had been in my collection since 2005,’ Daniella Helayel says, ‘but now it was on the cover of every newspaper and magazine. Sales went through the roof.’

Would any dress have had the same effect? No. There was something about the Issa. It made Kate look glamorous yet respectful; she wasn’t trying to seem more mature than she was, but nor did the dress depict her as a slave to fashion.

Although Issa later ran into trouble, Helayel hopes that the women who loved her designs still treasure and wear them now. ‘I didn’t want to do fashion,’ she reflects. ‘I wanted to do clothing that people could leave for their daughters.’ Perhaps one day we’ll see the royal Issa once again on Princess Charlotte?

Prince William and Kate Middleton visit Belfast City Hall in March 2011. Kate wears a trench from Burberry.

THE DUCHESS-IN-TRAINING LOOK

Between the engagement and the wedding, Kate and William toured the UK carrying out a select few visits to gently introduce the Duchess-to-be to royal duties. For most of these appearances, Kate opted for unfussy looks mostly sourced from her existing wardrobe.

If this strategy felt a little lacklustre after all the excitement of the engagement, then reassurance arrived in early March when the couple spent the day in Belfast. Here, Kate eschewed her comfort zone in favour of a fluted hem trench coat by Burberry. As the world-famous inventor of the trench, the choice was a brilliant example of her opportunity to dust off British powerhouse names and show them off afresh to the world with new royal gleam.

Kate, her mother and sister arrive at The Goring hotel, London, on 28 April 2011, the day before her wedding to Prince William.

THE WEDDING EVE LOOK

Kate’s final look as a single woman and commoner was the epitome of everything the world had come to know of her. In true Kate fashion, she didn’t invest in a new outfit for the final wedding rehearsal and her arrival at The Goring hotel – where she was to spend the night before the wedding – instead choosing an Issa dress that she’d owned since 2006 and a ruffle cream jacket by BCBG Max Azria. A classic Kate finishing touch came courtesy of her patent espadrille wedges by L.K. Bennett.

The following day, she would be a royal bride, complete with gown and tiara, but in this moment, she was the girl next door whose story had gripped people across the globe.

The wedding day – 28 April 2011. Kate arriving at Westminster Abbey accompanied by her maid of honour, sister Pippa Middleton.

THE WEDDING DAY The Dress

Kate’s choice of wedding dress brilliantly encapsulates the delicate balance she has struck throughout her royal life between catering to her personal tastes while acknowledging the unique significance of her position. On her wedding day, the personal and the patriotic were in impressive equilibrium.

In the months leading up to the marriage, the rumour mill was in overdrive regarding the identity of the Duchess-to-be’s chosen wedding dress designer. And mostly the press underestimated her, taking her conservative, ladylike style as a cue that she would commission a ‘safe’ name or an established specialist in classic bridal gowns – Jenny Packham, Phillipa Lepley and Bruce Oldfield were all contenders, as was Sophie Cranston, designer of small label Libélula, which had become a recent favourite of Kate’s at the time.

But this school of thought had completely forgotten that Kate was a graduate in Art History, with a far more nuanced appreciation for the importance of craft and design than many might have given her credit for. Indeed, Vogue’s then editor Alexandra Shulman was summoned to Clarence House to offer her professional opinion.

‘We sat on a sofa and discussed the various options, piles of pictures scattered on the floor,’ Shulman recalled in her book Clothes…. And Other Things That Matter. ‘As we talked, I began to realize that my favourite was Alexander McQueen, a label which at that point, shortly after McQueen’s horribly untimely death, was newly in the hands of Sarah Burton. I thought that the level of extraordinary craftsmanship and their tradition of working with symbolism would be up to the task, that Sarah and Catherine would get on as women and that it would be terrific to have a relatively untraditional fashion house given this privilege. And then I left. I didn’t mention the meeting to anyone and I didn’t hear anything more.’

The Alexander McQueen name might also have been in Kate’s orbit after seeing the subtly unconventional McQueen creation that Sara Buys, a fashion writer, wore to marry Tom Parker Bowles (son of Camilla) in 2005. Although Sara denied ever having given Kate advice, that design’s striking point of difference may have offered some inspiration.

‘You want to do a dream dress,’ considers Elizabeth Emanuel, who along with her then husband David created Princess Diana’s legendary wedding gown. ‘But then you have to consider that, as it’s a royal bride, it’s going to be part of history. In every royal wedding dress, there’s a message in there as well.’

When Kate stepped out of the Rolls Royce Phantom VI at Westminster Abbey just before 11am on 29 April 2011, she created one of the great fashion moments of the 21st century. The McQueen name had been rumoured in the run-up to the wedding, but confirmation that the future Queen had chosen the house sent the fashion industry into raptures.

‘Miss Middleton chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing,’ read the official press release about the gown. ‘Miss Middleton wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterizes Alexander McQueen’s work.’

Like the Queen, Kate ensured that British symbols were incorporated into the design, with rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock motifs appearing on the gown’s lace elements. Comparisons were also made with the dress that Grace Kelly wore to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956, thanks especially to the slim lace sleeves and elevated neckline, which offered a sense of classical grandeur. The gown’s most distinctively McQueen flourish was its understated but unusual Victorian-style bustle.

‘The dress showed that Kate was not painting herself as a fashion icon,’ observes Emanuel. ‘It’s very traditional and wasn’t going out on a limb. Something very high fashion would have been wrong – Sarah got it absolutely right, it was beautiful. Everyone was so excited to see the dress, but what was lovely was that it showed off Kate.’