We’ve all seen photos of Kate Middleton as she attends official events, and travels the world meeting with world leaders.
But what is she like to work with as a model?
British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman had that very insight when she secured the Duchess of Cambridge as her magazine’s cover star for its 100th edition.
“She’s incredibly likeable,” Shulman told ES Magazine’s Charlotte Edwards. “She really is. She wants to do what she’s doing well, and she’s very professional.”
Shulman said, despite paralles being drawn between the two women, Kate is very different from her mother-in-law, Princes Diana.
“Diana was more interested in that high-voltage celebrity, that was something she really embraced. The Duchess of Cambridge is prepared to do her bit, but it’s not one of the things that she most cares about.
“She loves her kids and the countryside. Dressing up, that’s a professional side to her. It’s a sort of uniform, all those lovely couture costumes.”
But it does seems as if Kate’s style just keeps getting better and better.
This year we have seen her wearing Topshop in India, Alexander McQueen in Canada and lots more. Take a look through some of Kate’s best looks for 2016.
Here’s hoping wee Charlotte grows up to have even half the style of her mum!
On the 10th of October, Kate celebrated World Mental Health Day in this relatively affordable $498 Kate Spade dress. The Kate Spade website described the dress as “pretty enough for date nights but covered enough for any day job.” Apparently even if your day job is Royal Dignitary.
When Kate wore this adorable L.K. Bennett dress to the August YoungMinds Mental Health Charity Helpline, she almost had us fooled into thinking she and Wills were just a regular – well-dressed – couple next door.
Stepping off the plane in Victoria for the beginning of the royal tour of Canada in September, Catherine chose a fitted blue Jenny Packham dress worn with a matching headpiece and a maple leaf brooch. To break the look up, she wore her favourite nude heels and carried a matching clutch bag – when she wasn’t busy holding on to Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
Catherine’s stunning CH Carolina Herrera coat looked gorgeous paired with simple heels in September, as she and Prince William spent the fifth day of their royal tour in Canada day exploring the town of Whitehorse, where they sent a tweet in Morse code.
Catherine kept it casual for a busy day on the Yukon Route railway, a last-minute route decision for the couple after they found out that the Queen and Prince Phillip had travelled the same way in 1959. Catherine’s stunning grey cardigan coat was by label Sentaler, which she paired with jeans and cowboy boots.
This gorgeous bottle green $4000 dress is by Dolce & Gabbana; one of the Duchess’ most well-loved designers. Nude heels are a brave choice for a busy day of engagements in Kelowna, British Columbia (the same city that Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited 30 years ago), but the Duchess is a pro at looking comfortable all day, even in the highest of heels!
Is this the Duchess’ most stunning look ever? This gorgeous red gown is by Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, which she wore with a maple leaf brooch in homage to the Canadian flag. She and William were dressed up to attend a reception for political and civic leaders in British Columbia.
Catherine’s brooch belongs to the royal family, and was given to the late Queen Mother by her husband, King George VI, to mark the state visit to Canada in 1939
The Duke and Duchess spent a day exploring the natural beauty of Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, and Catherine looked just the part. Wearing jeans from Zara, her trusted Penelope Chilvers boots and a Holland & Holland safari jacket, she chatted animatedly about her surroundings.
Kate’s stunning $8,000 Alexander McQueen gown was a nod to Canada’s red and white flag, and has quickly become one of her most talked-about looks so far. Paired perfectly with red shoes and a bag, this was a step away from her usually-favoured sleek silhouette, with a slightly fuller, shorter skirt. The button-up neckline kept things demure.
Kate’s stunning Alexander McQueen dress was custom made for her, and adapted from a piece in McQueen’s forthcoming Resort 17 collection. The stunning broderie detailing and unusual red and white colour palette makes this one of the Duchess’ most talked-about outfits in recent months.
She’s known for her love of sport, and can often be seen cheering on Andy Murray at Wimbledon, but this year the Duchess went all out with her style in a stunning $5,000 Alexander McQueen dress decorated with butterflies and jewels. She and William wore matching Ray Ban sunglasses – because the sun does occasionally make an appearance at Wimbledon!
In what has been described as one of her most daring looks, the Duchess embraced the season’s most popular trend: the off-shoulder dress. Her $3000 cream gown was by London-based designer Barbara Casasola, and was an instant hit with fashion critics.
Attending the Somme Centenary commemorations at the Thiepval Memorial on June 30, Kate stayed warm and stylish, wearing a Missoni coat in the label’s signature zigzag print with black accessories including a chic black fascinator and oversized pearl earrings.
The £2,000 Roland Mouret gown that kate wore to the SportsAid’s 40th anniversary dinner in June was simple and elegant.
In May, Kate wore a dove-grey Roksanda dress to a lunch reception, her first engagement as patron of the Anna Freud Centre.
The Duchess looked dazzling on an English summer evening in this gorgeous recycled Jenny Packham gown. She and Prince William were in King’s Lynn for an exclusive country gala dinner which raised money for children’s hospices. Catherine first wore the embellished dress following her wedding in 2011, but chose to wear her hair up in a chignon five years later.
It was the Duchess’ first ever visit to Royal Ascot, so there was no doubt she was going to show up in style, but no-one anticipated how stunning she’d look in this cream lace dress. The midi-length gown, by Dolce & Gabbana, was paired with a hat from Jane Taylor and her trusty nude heels.
‘Vogue 100 A Century Of Style’ exhibition at National Portrait Gallery on May 4, the pressure was on to dress perfectly, as Kate was featured in the high-fashion gallery. She opted for a blush pink peplum dress and heels by Alexander McQueen, which she had first worn in Australia in 2014.
Kate wore a bright green Catherine Walker coat to the Chelsea Flower Show press day at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 23, where a pink and green Chrysanthemum had been named in honour of Princess Charlotte.
In India, the duchess went to a Garden party celebrating the Queen’s 90th birthday and wore this $3000 skirt and top combination by one of her favourite London designers, Alice Temperley.
The image of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Taj Mahal was only taken it April, but has quickly become iconic due to its similarity to the photograph of Prince William’s mother, Princess Diana, taken in the same spot. The Duchess chose to stand out for the occasion, and wore a gorgeous dress “planned months in advance” by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan.
When Kate met the Prime Minister of India, Narenda Modi, she wore a beautiful turquoise lace dress by London label Temperley.
When the Duchess chose a high street dress from Topshop for her trip to India earlier this year, the boho-style frock sold out in minutes. There’s no denying the Duchess if a fashion powerhouse!
