The Princess of Wales has just stepped out in her most eye-catching new outfit in months and it sends a very clear message.
Apology time. Just when I was thinking that Kate, the Princess of Wales had become wholly predictable, her work outings routine, her wardrobe, staler than a Sao that’s a good year past its expiration date and here she is, delivering quite the plot twist.
Kate might be the next Queen of Great Britain and yet today have no choice but to consider a question that no one could ever have predicted or even loosely imagined after taking too many Codral – has she just thrown herself into the messiest celebrity family feud in the world?
The princess has just, reportedly, seemingly picked a side in the Beckham family drama.
The action, such as it was, went down like this.
There Kate was on Monday, out flying the flag for the British fashion industry with two hands, presenting the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design to Patrick McDowell.
During the outing, the princess undertook the royal family’s long-perfected act of Looking At Things And Seeming Interested, which was about as scintillating viewing as watching a nice bit of Colefax and Fowler paint dry.
Except for what the 43-year-old was wearing.
Despite the day being one that The Telegraph termed of “22-degree heat”, the princess chose a bold olive green suit by Victoria Beckham – right at the very moment when the Spice Girl turned designer and husband David find themselves embroiled in the same sort of tabloid family saga the that Crown Inc is painfully au fait with.
A son lacking firm purpose who falls hard for a glamorous American gal, only for the love birds to then spectacularly fall out with his British family?
When it comes to the Windsors and the Beckhams, there is a definite degree of döppelganging to their family dramas.
Things for David and Victoria burst into public view earlier this month when their eldest son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz appeared to snub his 50th birthday celebrations and since then there have been tit-for-tatting claims about who is to blame.
Brooklyn and Nicola’s “behaviour has been appalling,” a source has told Page Six and an insider has claimed that David and Victoria “just can’t deal with this nonsense anymore”.
Then the other side shot back with a source telling TMZ that David “verbally berates” his
eldest son on the phone and that “Victoria tries to smooth things over by immediately, sending Nicola a loving text so there is no proof the former soccer pro “didn’t just scream at Brooklyn for an hour.”
While no one has teared up while Oprah Winfrey nods along, it seem only a matter of time.
So, against his backdrop, was the princess’ choice of the $2,750 two-piece an intentional bit of signalling?
Asked by The Times if Kate’s decision to wear Victoria Beckham was about “sartorial solidarity”, “an in-the-know mole” said: “Oh, it’s totally deliberate. She knows what she wears gets major pick-up.”
Ready for the plot to thicken?
Monday’s suit is believed to be only the second that Kate has worn a piece of clothing from the Victoria Beckham brand, though she also owns a pair of sunglasses and a bag from the label.
Yet of all the British labels that the Princess of Wales could have chosen to boost at the farshhhony awards, unlike other homegrown favourites such as Emilia Wickstead and Catherine Walker, it was Victoria’s label she chose to champion.
More interestingly, the striking ensemble was a marked departure from what has become the norm for Kate of recycling pieces from her wardrobe.
Last week was a major one for the Palace with the royal family leading the UK in marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day. In the space of days she attended a military process, appeared on the Palace balcony, watched the VE Day concert and joined a commemorative service at Westminster Abbey.
On each of these occasions, again and again, she only re-wore dresses, coats, shoes, bags and jewellery that were already in rotation in her wardrobe.
And yet here we are, days later, and we have Kate busting out a new and eye-catching – and more importantly news-making – outfit.
Interestingly, the last year has seen the ties between the House of Beckham and Crown Inc only get tighter with King Charles naming David as an Ambassador for The King’s Foundation and with the self-made couple attending their first Buckingham Palace state dinner in December last year.
David has made no secret of his wholehearted backing of the King & Co, saying in January: “Whenever the Prince of Wales sends me a message and says I need you to do this or be there, it’s always a yes…I’ve always been a huge royalist, I was brought up in a family and household that adored and loved everything with the royal family.”
That feeling, with Kate in her smart bit of Victoria Beckham tailoring, looks to be mutual.
Whatever might have demotivated the princess to wear Monday’s suit, what is undeniable is the massive shot in the arm and boost for Victoria Beckham brand it all is.
While you wouldn’t think a four figure olive suit would fly off the shelves, the suit sold out in a day.
The full economic effect of Kate’s style seal of approval is enormous.
When the mother-of-three wore a pair of shoes from British brand Camilla Elphick to the 2024 Wimbledon final it created $7.4 million in exposure for the company, according to The Times.
Previously, it was found that sales of copycats and dupes of things worn by the princess boosted the British fashion industry by $20.5 billion between 2010 and 2021.
After all of this, what can I say but who knew? Who knew that Kate still had it in her to really surprise us?
The late Queen said, “I have to be seen to be believed”.
Sometimes, the same goes for the Princess of Wales.