Kate Middleton has a savvy trick to avoid upstaging the bride at weddings
Having the Princess of Wales at your wedding understandably draws attention


Kate Middleton's clever wedding guest trick makes sure that her fame doesn't upstage the bride when she attends their weddings.
- When Kate Middleton attends weddings, she is said to make sure to wear an outfit she has already been pictured in so as not to draw attention away from the bride.
- The sweet and savvy hack goes to show her caring nature.
- In other royal news, Kate Middleton loves this dress silhouette that Princess Diana was often spotted wearing.
Deciding what to wear as a wedding guest can be tricky. There are so many styles to choose from; from summer wedding guests dresses to black wedding guest dresses to plus size wedding guest dresses. But one thing most guests aren't worried about is upstaging the bride who is bound to be in a gorgeous pure white wedding dress that is perfectly on trend.
But there is at least one person who does have to worry about taking attention off the bride during their nuptials; The Princess of Wales. Royal fans are always obsessed with what she is wearing whether it's her cowboy hat with a chic floral shirt combo from way back in 2011 or a look featuring pretty much any of Kate's dresses.
So, when she's attending weddings, the Princess of Wales reportedly has a simple and savvy trick to avoid stealing the spotlight.
Explaining Kate's approach to wedding guest style, HELLO! Online's royal correspondent Danielle Stacey said, "It's a fashion trick that [Kate Middleton] often deploys when it comes to her wedding guest outfits. We've seen Kate re-wear pieces from her wardrobe to some of her closest friends and family's nuptials, including a floral Jenny Packham dress for Emily McCorquodale and James Hutt's wedding in May 2012 (previously worn on the royal tour 2011) and a blue tweed Missoni coat for Lucy Meade and Charlie Budgett's wedding in 2014.
"As well as repeating an outfit, Kate has also opted for a dress or a coat in a different colour, but a similar style to a piece she already owns. It's something for us all to take note of – you don't just have to wear your occasion-wear once!"
For her brother-in-law Prince Harry's wedding in 2018, Kate recycled a pale yellow Alexander McQueen tailored coat that she had already worn on three previous occasions; for Princess Charlotte's christening in July 2015, the Trooping the Colour celebration in 2016, and during a visit to Belgium in 2017.
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However, the dress caused a lot of controversy as its pale colour meant many believed it to be white and wearing white to someone else's wedding is a big no-no. Thankfully, The Palace released a statement sharing that Kate's look was "primrose yellow" in colour despite the television cameras making it read more white.
For the celebrations, Kate also notably chose to wear toned downed jewellery. Instead of borrowing something from the late Queen's collection, Kate stepped out in just a simple pair of lemon yellow quartz earrings and a ring that she first wore in 2008, three years before she married William.
Catherine's rule has been seen in action during many royal weddings. For example, for Zara and Mike Tindall's wedding in July 2011, she stepped out in her gold brocade DAY Birger et Mikkelsen coat which she paired with a favourite Gina Foster hat.
The only time the future Queen Consort publicly broke her wedding guest rule was at her sister's wedding. When her sister Pippa and husband James Matthews tied the knot in 2017, Kate wore a stunning blush pink midi dress by her favourite designer Alexander McQueen and finished the outfit with a floral Jane Taylor hat. While the Princess had not been seen in this outfit before, she likely wore a new outfit for two reasons.
One is that the blush pink coincided with the colour theme of many other wedding guests' outfits and if she hadn't stuck to the scheme she would have stood out like a sore thumb. The second is because Kate had already taken a more minor role in the wedding party and was not her sister's maid-of-honour, so she could afford to make a bit of a splash with a new outfit.
Royal author Judy Wade told Vogue Magazine that Kate chose not to hold a major role during the ceremony because she didn't want to 'upstage' her sister. She said, "If your sister is a future Queen, she is going to upstage the bride and draw attention. Kate would want to be in the background as much as possible."
Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a freelance royal news, entertainment and fashion writer. She began her journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with Good To, BBC Good Food, The Independent, The Big Issue and The Metro.
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