All products featured on Allure are independently selected by our editors.
However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through links in this article.
Welcome to theYear in Beauty.
As history tells us, princess stories come with a lot of baggage.
We often associate them with fairy tales, after all.
And fairy tales tend to have a dark side.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, visits The Queen’s Dragoon Guards Regiment for the first time as their Colonel in Chief in November, 2023. She drove a heavy armored vehicle in helmet and camo during this visit, to the delight of the Guards.
(Just watch season five ofThe Crown.)
Despite all that, we’re perpetually obsessed with princesses and their seemingly-magical lives.
Over the past year, Catherine has made the position her own.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, visits The Queen’s Dragoon Guards Regiment for the first time as their Colonel in Chief in November, 2023. She drove a heavy armored vehicle in helmet and camo during this visit, to the delight of the Guards.
Diana was very high-profile and she embraced causes, like AIDS, that were taboo.
She was very venturesome and bold.
But what she did was eroded by the clear unhappiness and discord in the relationship she had with Charles.
For Trooping the Colour, Catherine chose a bright green Andrew Gn dress and Cartier shamrock pin in honor of the Irish Guards, as their Colonel of the Regiment. The sapphire and diamond earrings belonged to Princess Diana.
She was effective, but it was more sporadic and she certainly wasnt disciplined.
That word may distinguish Catherine more than any other.
Appearance discipline, message discipline, parenting discipline.
Many of Catherine’s jewelry choices reflect her connection to her late mother-in-law Princess Diana. This mutual favorite is the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara, commissioned by Queen Mary.
Will and Kate are clearly a team and they are working together, says Smith.
Kate is very aware of not overshadowing him.
She’s very canny in the way she projects her image.
Catherine visits the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, a youth development charity in Bath, England. The yellow blazer is from LK Bennett and the trousers are Alexander McQueen.
Everything about her image is intentional fromher hairand makeup to her jewelry and fashion.
The sapphire and diamond earrings belonged to Princess Diana.
Those rules, of course, are legendary, if unwritten: Cleavage is a no-no.
Catherine’s sporty side is evident in many different iterations. Here, at Wimbledon, where she is royal patron, Roger Federer puts her through her paces to train to be a “ball kid.”
Same with open-toe shoes (except in the tropics).
Handbags are carried on the left.
PDA is frowned upon.
And every time Catherine executes one of her balletic deep curtsies, the clip goes viral.
Shes a company woman through and through, Fitzgerald says.
She dresses for the firm.
Shes always been that way at least since the wedding.
That image starts with her hair, which by any measure is shiny and bouncy and lush.
She has traveled with a hairdresser, Amanda Cook Tucker, on official trips.
Many of Catherines jewelry choices reflect her connection to her late mother-in-law Princess Diana.
This mutual favorite is the Cambridge Lovers Knot tiara, commissioned by Queen Mary.
(As far as products, she is said to useKerastase Bain Satinshampoo andLait Vitalconditioner.)
Burkills clients often bring in a reference photo of the princess.
She never wears bright lipstick, for instance, and rarely adds a flourish with a vibrant nail color.
Catherine visits the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, a youth development charity in Bath, England.
The yellow blazer is from LK Bennett and the trousers are Alexander McQueen.
Every single moment of Catherines life is photographed, critiqued, and parsed for meaning.
This scrutiny is for life.
But if the burden can be overwhelming, Catherine hasnt shown it.
It was a subtle, but meaningful gesture.
(They said it includes running, weight lifting, cycling, rowing,yoga, and HIIT.
They failed to mention those cold plunges, which Catherine herself spoke about on a rugby-themed podcast.)
She comes across as very youthful when shes doing those more casual events.
Catherines sporty side is evident in many different iterations.
She rarely steps a foot out of line.
Her signature qualities, discipline and consistency, are not exactly the stuff of princess stories.
But empathy certainly is.
Shes tapping into what the late Queen was, Holt says.
She was this anchor in a world of chaos.
Its now falling to Kate to be that anchor.
More royal styles to admire:
Now, watch Alix Earle’s makeup routine for acne-prone skin:
