Kate Middleton made a striking return to Royal Ascot today.
The Princess of Wales attended day two of the five-day meeting in a vibrant yellow ensemble, embracing the bold sunshine shade for the summer event.
Her dress is from Roksanda—a rewear from the 2022 royal visit to Jamaica. She paired the garment with a coordinating large yellow hat by Jane Taylor and two pieces of heirloom jewellery. (As usual, my outfit analysis follows a segment about Royal Ascot. Skip ⬇️ to the fashion?)
As is tradition, the day kicked off with the royal carriage procession led by King Charles and Queen Camilla. They rode with Lady Sarah Chatto—the late Queen’s niece—and her husband Daniel Chatto.
The Princess sat alongside her husband William in the second carriage.
They sat opposite the Duke and Duchess of Richmond and Gordon—owners of the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, home to Goodwood Racecourse and ‘Glorious Goodwood.’ Below, the foursome chatting after disembarking from the carriage:
Rory Stewart and his wife, Shoshana sat in the third carriage along with Lady Sarah Keswick and the Marchioness of Lansdowne.
William Haggas, his wife Maureen, John Gosden and Rachel Hood occupied the fourth and final carriage.
The Princess chatted with Lady Gabriella Kingston on the racecourse’s green lawn. The pair worked together on the Together At Christmas carol concert.
Kate’s mother, Carole Middleton, attended today’s race too, accompanied by her daughter-in-law, Alizee Thevenet.
Kate chatting with her mother:
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were also in attendance today, alongside Princess Anne (living up to her title of ‘The Queen of Recycling’ by rewearing a look from 25 years ago).
William and Kate were on hand to award trophies for day two’s feature race—the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
A nice touch, seeing as it shares William’s title!
For the second year running, Ombudsman won. He’s the first horse to win back-to-back runnings since 1995.
It was also a big day for the racehorse’s jockey, William Buick (pictured above). This was his 40th Royal Ascot win. Prince William presented him with a special commemorative saddle cloth to mark the achievement.
Kate, meanwhile, congratulated the winning trainers, John and Thady Gosden. John rode in the carriage procession alongside the royals hours earlier (in carriage four).
Today marks Kate’s sixth Royal Ascot since joining the Royal Family in 2011, and her first since 2023—she sat out the meeting for the past two years due to her heatlh.
Above: the Princess at 2023’s Royal Ascot wearing a bold red ensemble.
Royal Ascot is regarded as Britain’s most prestigious horse racing event, and attracts the finest racehorses, jockeys and trainers globally. Millions of pounds of prize money are up for grabs. The event is held at the Ascot Racecourse, just six miles away from Windsor Castle. It’s the centrepiece of the Racecourse’s year.
The event is a notable part of the Royal Family’s summer diary and a major event in the British social calendar. The late Queen Elizabeth II, known for her love of horse racing, attended all five days of Royal Ascot. King Charles has maintained this tradition since her passing.
Queen Anne founded Royal Ascot over 300 years ago, in 1711.
Today, the event is known for its strict dress codes enforced across the different enclosures. For example, the Royal Enclosure, the most exclusive area accessible only by invitation, requires morning dress (waistcoat, top hat) for men and formal day dresses with hats or headpieces for women.
Which is a good segue into our section about Kate’s outfit. Let’s look at her ensemble in more detail:
Kate’s outfit:
Well, if Kate wanted a high-impact outfit for today’s appearance, she succeeded!
She chose an eye-catching shade of sunshine yellow. She doesn’t wear this confident hue very often, making it somewhat unexpected and impactful.
Over the last few weeks, she’s worn light and pastel hues, so this ensemble really stood out.
The foundation of today’s look is the Roksanda ‘Brigitte’ dress, a beautiful dress with a flowing skirt and an oversized bow at the shoulder. The original version shown below, without sleeves.
Roksanda later re-released the Brigitte, in other colours, with sleeves.
Kate debuted the Brigitte in 2022, during a royal visit to Jamaica:
She wore it in the summer of the same year to Wimbledon:
For anybody hoping to score Kate’s dress for a summer event, Roksanda stocks the original sleeveless version of the dress in white (£1,395).
MyTheresa carries the same dress in pink, but only in a UK6 (£847).
The designer’s ‘Luna’ dress is near identical, and available in more sizes in both burgundy and lilac (below, £645).
The Princess is no stranger to Roksanda—we’ve seen her wear five of the designer’s dresses to date.
Established in 2005, Roksanda is a London-based fashion label founded by Serbian designer Roksanda Ilinčić. The brand is known for its modern, feminine designs, often in vibrant palettes.
Kate paired the Roksanda dress with a vibrant yellow hat by Jane Taylor—her third by the milliner this month.
She’s really liking these large, oversized hats at the moment, isn’t she?
Kate wears the Epona, a hat with a large, wide, downturned brim that’s finished with dramatic veiling.
The made-to-measure hat is listed on Jane Taylor’s website for £3,250. A note says the piece will cost an extra £300 if ordered in the yellow shade Kate wears. You can also request the veil with or without spots.
Jane Taylor is one of Kate’s go-to milliners. The Princess has turned to the Knightsbridge-based designer for over a decade. The Princess wore her first Jane Taylor hat in 2012, at the Thanksgiving Service marking the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Today, Kate frequently turns to Jane Taylor for major state events, high-profile royal weddings, and traditional services.
Jane Taylor launched her millinery service in 2004, and today, she counts royalty, film stars and music stars amongst her clientele.
Now, for that heirloom jewellery, starting with Kate’s dazzling diamond earrings.
I think it’s safe to say the Princess put the ‘royal’ into Royal Ascot today by wearing these beauties. The chandelier-style earrings belonged to Queen Elizabeth II.
The spectacular earrings feature a large pear-cut diamond in the middle, suspended within an openwork frame of brilliant and baguette-cut diamonds.
Despite their size, the beautiful earrings are light, almost lace-like. They work really well with the outfit.
The Princess debuted the earrings back in 2011, at the BAFTA ‘Brits to Watch’ event in Los Angeles that took place during her first-ever overseas tour. The media confirmed that Queen Elizabeth had loaned the earrings to Kate. Over the last 15 years, she’s worn them on nine occasions in total, including today. These earrings are a favourite of mine, so it’s nice to see them again!
Sadly, I know nothing of their provenance. I don’t know how Queen Elizabeth came to own them, or if any royals have worn them before.
Kate’s second heirloom piece does have a well-documented history, fortunately. It’s the Three-Strand Pearl Bracelet by Nigel Milne. It was previously owned by Diana, Princess of Wales. I assume William inherited the piece and gifted it to his wife.
A few years ago, Nigel Milne had an article about the bracelet live on his site. He shared an image from an old catalogue that dates back to 1988:
The bracelet is described in the catalogue as ‘an elegant three-row cultured pearl bracelet with diamond and pearl triple cluster sections.’
Milne explained that proceeds of sales from the bracelet raised funds for BIRTHRIGHT, a research centre originally set up in the 1960s to stop women and babies dying in pregnancy and childbirth. The late Princess of Wales was Patron of the charity. Today, it’s known as ‘Wellbeing of Women’ and covers all areas of women’s reproductive health.
This is the third time Kate’s worn the bracelet this month. She selected it for Trooping the Colour last Saturday and for Peter Phillips’ wedding a few weeks ago.
Kate debuted the bracelet at the Clärchens Ballhaus, Berlin in 2017. She’s worn it quite regularly since 2022 (when she officially became the Princess of Wales following the death of Queen Elizabeth). She’s worn the bracelet to many high-profile royal events since, including state banquets and garden parties.
Let’s look at Kate’s ivory coloured satin bag now. It’s softened her bold yellow outfit and coordinated nicely with her bracelet (especially the pearl detail on the closure). It’s by Anya Hindmarch.
It’s known as the ‘Maud’ bag (some of you will know Kate owns this back in black, too and will remember her famously carrying it to meet the Obamas in 2011.)
Kate first carried the bag during the Jamaica visit in 2022 (the same visit she debuted the yellow Roksanda dress—though she didn’t carry the bag with the dress on that occasion).
This is the fourth time we’ve seen her carry it to date.
The frame clutch is vintage-inspired; it has that ’50s evening bag aesthetic. The soft satin pouch is supported by a gold metal frame that runs along the top. It’s very elegant.
It’s made from recycled satin. As some will know, Anya Hindmarch is a conscious brand that puts sustainability at the fore—and she was famously ahead of the curve, launching her now iconic ‘I’m Not A Plastic Bag‘ tote in 2007. (The piece became a global talking point and helped kick-start the national conversation around single-use plastic.)
As we know, Kate sustainable and slow fashion brands—so it’s no wonder she owns Hindmarch pieces (five to be exact).
Hindmarch still stocks the bag, RRP £475.
Side note: Queen Camilla granted the Anya Hindmarch its first Royal Warrant earlier this year in recognition of the company’s long-standing commitment to craftsmanship, quality and sustainability.
Finally, the shoes. I suspect Kate stuck with her tried and tested ‘Gianvito 105’ pumps from Italian designer, Gianvito Rossi.
The Gianvito is a pointed-toe pump with a 105mm stiletto heel, cut from suede and handcrafted in Italy.
Kate debuted this particular pair of heels in 2022—again, during the royal tour of Jamaica (but not with the yellow dress). She’s worn them on 12 other occasions, in public, to date. Unsurprisingly, often during the spring and summer months.
If you’re new here, Kate is devoted to this style—she owns this particular shoe in 11 different colours (that we’ve counted). I expect the Princess found a shoe that looked elegant and felt comfortable, and decided to stick with what works for her.
She’s quite fond of the Rossi full stop, and owns 20+ pairs of his shoes, boots, sandals and slingbacks—by far more than any other designer.
However—I did hedge the shoe section with the word ‘suspect‘. This is because I’ve spotted a pair of similar shoes at—Emmy London—the Rebecca in cashmere. As most fans will know, the Rebecca is another Kate favourite shoe.
The two styles are almost indistinguishable. I don’t think I could say with confidence without looking at the sole of Kate’s shoe.
That’s all for today. 🙂
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