Here are some photos of the Duchess of Cambridge at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club today. Kate was named the new patron of the club and patron of the Wimbledon Championships months ago, and it is the only patronage she ever really wanted. I suspect that it’s the only patronage she will really give a sh-t about long-term. Military families will come and go, and Kate will still want to flirt with Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and hang out for hours and hours to watch them play. Girl can only manage 20 and 30 minute visits to charities, but tennis? She clears her schedule for an entire fortnight.
Anyway, Kate arrived on Day 1 of Wimbledon a few hours ahead of Andy Murray’s first round match. She went to meet some of the ball boys and ball girls, and there seemed to be a small little reception and meet & greet with Hall-of-Famers Martina Navratilova and Kim Clijsters (who is working as a coach now). I also see photos of Feliciano Lopez and Dominic Thiem at this little reception too. Kate wore a black and white polka-dotted D&G dress, black sandals and a white tote bag. Honestly, the tote (by Victoria Beckham) is my favorite part of this look. My least favorite part? The price tag on this dress – it’s $2595!!! A $2600 dress for Wimbledon? In the immortal words of John McEnroe, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS. Also: Kate got a haircut!! And it doesn’t look bad at all. Very summery, this shorter ‘do. I suspect that most of the haircut was merely taking out all of the extensions and then getting a really good trim, but who knows?
Meanwhile, in an interesting piece of counter-programming for Waity’s Wimbledon Adventure Time, Kensington Palace announced today that William and Kate will bring Princess Charlotte and Prince George with them on the tours of Germany and Poland. The Cambridges are headed out on a five-day tour following the conclusion of Wimbledom two weeks from now. And we’ll be getting photos of the kids, so yay.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
This hair is so much better!!!!
+1 pretty and polished. The dress does nothing for her.
I like the way the dress is cut, but polka dots-ohhh please!
I love polka dots.
I see no issue with polka dots. Her frame lets her get away with a plethora of prints and cuts. And yet still a snooze fest 😴😴💤💤💤
I think she has a million polka dot dresses. Polka dot and lace are clearly her favorites. There are so many prints and patterns she could choose from, but she always goes for little girl style.
I am convinced she buys all her clothes in online sales. This has just gone on sale in the net a porter sale – I tried it on and found it a bIt dowdy 😂
Edit: I just checked and it was gbp725 so a lot less than the price you’re quoting. Someone should track her outfits versus online sales!
For that money I would expect the fabric to have been better cut to centre the dot pattern. I mean, look at that bodice!
So much better, this hair. As for the dress, I’m not much of a one for large polkadots, but I think it looks pretty nice on her — crisp and cool and unfussy. (No buttons!!! I guess the polkadots take the place of buttons.)
All the jumbo polka dots make her look fussy, not polished.
Polka dots have not been fashionable for some time, but her mother-in-law, the late, great Princess Diana, would never have been caught dead in such garish fashion. She would have found a more sophisticated dot.
Ho-hum…
@ wolfpup
*snickers* “Sophisticated dots”–oh please:
https://duchesseorange.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/d8794.jpg
http://68.media.tumblr.com/6212c9429c9cff354ab3059ce96d9fab/tumblr_mo6sg2JR8m1s2lwbwo1_500.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/62/d0/69/62d06974db550beb6a95c2a87f9eb063–lady-diana-diana-hercegn%C5%91.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d9/0b/c1/d90bc173a4fb50966f7274a676aaf542–prince-andrew-princesa-diana.jpg
You MUST be joking.
The shoes are a bit too on the nose, but eh. The hair is looking better.
I don’t really get the soft power of the RBF at all. In light of Brexit and the omnishambles we have over here, I don’t see how they’d help, tbh.
I don’t understand the idea of royalty at all. They have no real use. Such a waste of taxpayer money.
Plus million…
It is so barbaric and exact opposite of everything we want from this world.
+100
Dont worry – GB FCO is now spending much needed funds to send the middletons 4 kids on ‘ vacation’ to Germany and Poland in a few weeks – with entitled lazy whiny bill waity middleton.
“1ST Tour” per DM – what was the Canadian Trip….
I feel bad for Germany and Poland, but at least it’s not us again. Charles and Camilla looked like they enjoyed their time here for our 150th birthday. Of course they could just be displaying good manners.
I just don’t understand, $2600 for this??? And those shoes don’t polish off the dress. But I have come to terms that with Kate, it’s almost always a miss and not a hit.
Letizia and Maxima are worth watching fashion wise. Kate puts me to sleep.
I was under the impression opened toed shoes were a no no for the British royal women. If that’s not true, maybe she will throw out those shoes she is constantly wearing.
+1000
This is just sickening the amount waity throw to look regular – nothing special – and she looks nothing like the star’s wife.
Meanwhile, Countess Sophie recycle one of her Ascot dresses, to open a Flower Show and she looks more regal in £900 compare to waity middleton waste of Duchy taxpayers funds.
William has a personal fortune from Diana’s estate. Charles owns the Duchy of Cornwall, it’s nothing to do with William at the moment. Neither of which are funded by British taxpayers.
No, Charles does not ‘OWN’ the Duchy. It is set aside for the Prince of Wales. Whoever that might be. For now, it is Charles.
The Duchy is like the White House. Does Trump own the White House?! Um, no,
he does not own the White House. He manages and runs it.
Charles benefits from the Duchy’s largesse, but he is merely a caretaker. Like the Queen and Buck House. She doesn’t own that either.
And the funds that Charles uses to pay for Kate’s clothes, are tax deductions. Every $2000 dress is a tax deductible item.
He does not own the Duchy of Cornwall. He “administers” it during his time as Heir and POW. William will manage it once his time comes. The Duchy, although it generates revenues, does get funds through taxes.
Elaine: Le Sigh…..😟
Elaine and LAK: Le Sigh ditto – WHY is this having to be explained on every single Royal Post?
Because her most devout fans insist that she isn’t spending taxpayer money, therefore it isn’t anybody’s business.
Prince Charles pays more UK tax pro rate than Starbucks or Amazon. He raises a great deal more money for established charities as well. He’s very successful with the duchy plus think of those he employs. He doesnt take the duchy with him when he dies.
However well he does or doesn’t do with the Duchy, he is doing it as an employee not the owner. The wasteful expense on the wardrobe for a lazy employee (aka Kate Middleton) should be stopped as it is company money (taxpayer) not his.
Joannie: Everyone on this forum pays more tax pro rata than Amazon or starbucks.
Further, Charles’s personal tax arrangements are voluntary unlike the rest of us, and were forced on him just like the same was forced on the Queen in the 90s.
The duchy tax liabilities are the same as any other corporation which means he is expected to pay said tax just like other corporations. Are we really applauding him for doing what is expected him?
And he does this all on his own? I think not, he has a plethora of advisers and business managers, the best in the country to call on, this is not his achievement, it is not a business he built up from nothing (like Dyson for example), it’s something that was handed to him – on a plate – and that will be handed on (or preferably back to the country it belongs to) when the time comes. Oh and the reason he pays more tax pro rata than Starbucks or Amazon is because they routinely cheat on their tax bills in the UK by registering the companies in the Netherlands. The government has been fighting for years to get them to pay a reasonable sum given what they earn in the UK.
Edit – as LAK said above (we must have posted at the same time) his Tax bill isn’t something he can really dodge.
Lak that was my point. By the way I’m a CFA with a pretty good understanding of tax. There are a number of reasons corporations pay at a lesser tax rate than others and one of those reasons is they employ people who may otherwise be on the dole! How Charles spends his after tax dollars is his business. If its on a polka dot dress for Kate thats his business.
Joannie: he gets a tax write off for Kate’s polka dot dress. All the clothing she wears in public officially is a tax write off for him.
Lak the Duchy is not a corporation. Charles may get a tax deduction for the allowance he gives to William, Kate and Harry but I doubt he writes off Kate’s dress. This is every day wear not steel toe boots.
Joannie, he writes it all off from her dresses to shoes to jewelry. Anything she wears publicly at “work”.
Joanie: her presence at Wimbledon in this instance is in her official capacity as Patron. That means she’s at work which means her dress, bag, shoes and grooming bills for the day are a tax write off for Charles.
His accounts were explicit on this point.
Charles frequently receives tax deductables and writes off as any canny business person does. He is not going to give up an average £200K yearly tax write off for Kate’s clothing when it’s been allowed in years’ prior.
Charles is able to write a percentage off for his official expenditures, the cost of Kate’s outfit is not applicable. Like any business expense you can only write off a percentage. Would you like the public to tell you how to spend your money? He actually earns a living whether you want to believe it or not its fact! Good thing youre not paying for Melania’s?
Joannie, this has been discussed for years. It is partly how reporters found out the huge amount she spent on clothing in the first year of marriage. Because he takes it all off on his taxes as business expenses. Not a fraction, the whole kit and caboodle. Nothing he does, no matter how admirable some of it might be, earns him the lifestyle he and his relatives have. Nothing.
Where’s your proof? Have you seen his tax return?
why does she not have a stylist? surely someone could take her on and groom her better? even in the pictures of Diana and her polka dot dress’s she would add a hat or belt, or something funky. I don’t thin Catherine has a clue.
Are you unaware of the types of reports you can view online or request? There’s the big splashy, multi-page annual report with the photos and “well done us” things and then there’s the ones you have to dig through. Very Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy of them, to hide them in the bottom drawer of the locked file cabinets in the disused basement and all that.
That’s also how LAK (iirc) found the buried info about all of W&K’s helicopter travel now considered “official” and taxpayer funded between residences, regardless of whether or not it is related to royal engagements.
Lol so no tax return? His is a murky one Nota considering he isnt incorporated or a Ltd company. So what if he writes it off. Her clothing allowance is a drop in the bucket considering how much he earns and contributes. There are two sides to that coin.
Joannie, go digging and don’t just look for it in the usual places. They hide info well (their anti FOI fiasco), but not well enough to hide everything if you try hard enough. As said on here many times before, I can never get links to go through anyway. Don’t know how the rest of you do it, because my posts with links never get through moderation. Otherwise I would have posted the pics of Helen Mirren rocking the D&G polka dot dress.
No matter what benefit he brings through solid management of the Duchy in no way balances out the lifestyle they take out of it in return. There’s covering necessary expenses, then there’s living the way they do.
Looks like the neckline is custom, as it comes with a rounded neckline. Either paid the designers to change it or had Tash do it. From elsewhere online – 71-year-old Helen Mirren wore the same dress at Cannes three weeks ago.
Oh wow—she wore it SO. MUCH. BETTER.
Her hair looks a little more stylish, I suppose. That dress looks like it cost about $100. I do like the shoes.
Yes, this looks like something I could pick up at Macy’s for $100 on sale
This woman is so regular common – for such price – money really cant buy… as is her leathered looking sister – dosent matter the cost .
Meghan would turn this dress si chic – just by carriage. Waity liom as a celeb would going shopping.
Nah! $100 regular price, on sale for $50!
Correct, Macy’s came to mind for me as well. Maybe even TJ max on the right day.
Hi Meghan! Your jealousy is showing
LOL, I was thinking the same about the dress. I mean, the polka dot print doesn’t even match up from the top half to the bottom half, that’s such a pet peeve of mine (it’s especially obvious in the 2nd pic from the top.)
You’d think for $2600 they could have at least gotten that right.
That said, I do like the shorter hair.
Exactly, the mismatched polka dots on the bodice make the dress look cheap. Overall though, like this look, which is something I never say about her!
I can’t with all those spliced spots. This dress looks like $100 tops for this reason alone. How on earth does this dress get the go-ahead from a high end designer?
The spliced polka dots had to be because it was tucked in: Waity wanted that dress to highlight her slim/starved/anorexic figure which she works so hard for to maintain the eternal look of a young british country filly / nymph. After all she was about to meet some sex men and she wanted to impress them.
What about a brooch or some nice chain? Something tennis related. One would think that William might give his wife some brooch depicting a tennis ball and some rackets? In gold and diamonds? For Wimbledon?
The mismatched polka dots drive me crazy too. For that kind of money there is no excuse for mistakes. You can get the fabric and have someone make a custom dress for A LOT less than $2,600.
Why doesn’t she just hire a seamstress/tailor and have them make custom dresses for her? That would save the tax payers tons of money and she’d get appropriate & beautiful dresses
D&G shows it with exactly the same pattern of mismatched polka dots on retail sites, so that has to have been a deliberate designer choice.
https://www.farfetch.com/shopping/women/dolce-gabbana-polka-dot-dress-item-11836507.aspx
No Dignity: if you look at the dress on the model, it has the same mismatched dots. The only thing I see altered is the neckline. The model is more rounded, Kate’s is squared.
https://www.net-a-porter.com/gb/en/product/808371/dolce___gabbana/polka-dot-cady-dress
@ Melly
I somewhat doubt that Kate has enough creativity to instruct a seamstress to make her a polka dot dress. Judging by how she “instructed” the painter of her first painting …. resulting in something vaseline-filtered with a photoshop effect and no personality.
Josie – to me, your photo shows the dots evenly/perfectly spaced. I think Kate should have had a seamstress fix this, her dresses should be flawless.
She already has a polka dots dress in same style. The one she wore when she was pregnant with George and flashed everyone. Why not repeat the same!?
Because she’s not pregnant now?
She wore it at 5-6 months and it wasn’t a maternity dress merely a larger size. She’s had plenty of other things changed so why not re-tailor that dress to fit now? That said, the other dress was too short. She was in her miniskirts-when-expecting phase.
I think the hair looks great. The polka dots would be fine on a smaller scale, but no day dress is worth that much money. Surprised by the big tote!
I really hope she gets a makeover by a reputable and adult stylist at some point. She bores me to tell. Even when she looks average she just seems blah.
The chin implant and cheek fillers are FAR too big for her face.
I like the hair. I don’t like how she devotes her time to tennis and neglects her charities. Still dislike her heavily.
Wow, she looks better than she has in a long time. Sadly the bar is set pretty low and $2600 is ridiculous for that dress.
It’s on sale at roughly 60% off but it’s ugly even if it cost $25.
It is ugly, and I like polka dots. The polka dot pieces I have feature small white dots against a dark background. Even that wouldn’t have made this dress better, because the cut just isn’t the best. Finally, she should have added some color, like red shoes or a red bag.
$4,375.00 Canadian.
I thought D & G we’re cancelled.
Nice hair, horrible dress and meh shoes. Kate girl hire a stylist please! There is no reason Kate shouldn’t be looking like the baddest b*tch the room. Part of her “job” is to look good otherwise what’s the point.
+100
Does a stylist really work? Because if several thousand pounds for an ordinary dress from a high-end clothing store can’t make her look regal then who can? A miracle?
The Lord Almighty God doesn’t work as a stylist, does he?
lol!
I think a good stylist would advise her on clothes that are flattering and stylish, as well as helping her with her hair and makeup. Kate is in the prime of her life, she’s taller than average and slender–she should look great. Instead she always seems to just miss. She doesn’t know how to dress for her body or her age, it seems..
Yeah, but being a bad B is also about personality. Diana looked like a bad B in her later years, even wearing mom jeans and preppy sweaters. You have to have that certain something that Kate doesn’t have. Maybe Kate doesn’t like clothes. Diana seemed to enjoy them as a form of self expression.
I, for one, applaud her shoe game. I mean wouldn’t wear them but thank god she got rid of her beige/nude heels and her wedges. It is such a step up for her.
I often wonder why she doesn’t wear Victoria Beckham. But again, I wonder a lot of things when it comes to her (lack of) fashion style.
She’s wearing interesting shoes!! Her hair looks pretty!! The dress is cute!! Congratulations, British Celebitches. While our own figurehead is beating up the news media in effigy, one of yours managed to look nice. 😉
Agreed! It’s not perfect but it’s a HUUUGE improvement. Yay Kate!
Yes: the hair and new type of bag and purse for her!!!!!!!!
WHat’s wrong with her longer hair? That was actually her best feature IMO. Long hair is so sophisticated when it’s in nice updos or styles that are event appropriate and keep the hair out of your face. I think older ladies with longer hair look way more youthful than those with short fussy styles that only look a certain way always. There is no rule you have to shorten your hair as you age.
Overlong hair is aging, especially on women around her (my) age.
And super-long hair is very out-of-style, regardless.
I agree too! I think she looks pretty good.
She is not wearing a wedge! Sorry to shout, but this excites me! I thought they would bury her in those ugly nude wedges. The dress is boring but the shoes and hair are an improvement. A little wicker or navy bag would be cuter to me but I don’t get white handbags. I’d like to see her do a casual blazer and skirt/trouser look, something more “tennis-y”.
Where should I start? First off, ” Girl can only manage 20 and 30 minute visits to charities, but tennis? She clears her schedule for an entire fortnight.” PRICELESS! Wondering if the time used for her appearances at Wimbledon will be cut up in short periods to manipulate the public into thinking she’s had “many engagements”. And who will accompany her in the Royal Box. I hope that the BBC will have a decent coverage of the event.
And I think she should wear Victoria Beckham. I love most of her brand’s outfits – just a matter of my personal taste. But most of all, Keen Tennis Player/Lover Kannot should improve her posture. It’s still bad.
I like the shoes but I do not want to see a close-up. First I wanted to, but I changed my mind. I do hope however that her feet got some attention. Remember that infamous image of her feet some time ago when visiting a temple?
MTE on the posture, it’s bad in this dress especially since it’s ill fitting. To me, she looks and walks in a very masculine manner, with hands palms side down which is very strange.
+1000
Spot on with lack of and interest for royal duties/charities.
Waity middleton bar is soooo low all we looked at is the excesssive cost for her clothes to look regular common on her. Looking back donothing waity – looks like she is wearing a frock for carol.
“Remember that infamous image of her feet some time ago when visiting a temple? ” Are you referring to the time half the planet went nuts because she (gasp) didn’t have nail polish on her toes? I thought it was so stupid people freaked out over a lack of polish.
Yes to this.
I don’t wear polish on my toes 95% of the time. I don’t find it cute (for me) and I’m not going to waste time on it. I keep them clean and trimmed and from pics, Kate’s were the same. I couldn’t believe the fuss people were making over unpainted nails. There’s plenty to criticize her about, and lack of polish isn’t even on the list.
GOTR I don’t paint my toe or fingernails either. Once a cousin was visiting and was asking me for nail polish or nail polish remover. She looked at me like she thought I was lying when I said I didn’t have any. I don’t know why women are expected to paint their nails. I just keep mine cut when exposed. On the rare occasions that I get manicures, which is like once every two years, the mani/pedi people actually complement my nails. I think they’re stronger than most women’s because I don’t do anything to them. Anyway, nail polish is toxic, and I don’t like how it looks when it starts to chip.
I can buy that same fabric for $10 a yard and have it made for $40. This is Baarbados Dollars btw. Why does it cost so much?
It’s a cute dress but not nearly worth that money. Her hair has improved though
Because it’s Dolce&Gabbana. It’s all about the label, not the design.
For once, I like the dress and the sandals – and for once, the sleeves don’t stop a couple of inches above the elbow, the dowdiest of all sleeve lengths, and the looks is relaxed and summery. The shorter hair is an improvement, as well – she doesn’t look so much like a woman in her mid-thirties trying to look 18. I wonder if she’s pregnant again? As for the price – this is a rich woman married to a very rich man who is heir to very, very rich fortune: what a surprise, she dresses like one.
Surprise, the money she is spending belongs to the taxpayers not to her husband.
notasugar, it doesn’t. It’s from Duchy of Cornwall and Charles probably takes a tax deduction on it but it isn’t taxpayer money.
If that were true, everyone who takes a business tax deduction would be considered playing with taxpayers money.
bluhare, ultimately both the Cornwall and Lancaster Duchies belong to the taxpayers. They won’t go with the Windsor family when they’re thrown out. The Windsors are charged with being good stewards, but they aren’t the owners. Whatever is wasted on her ridiculous wardrobe is money that could be better spent elsewhere, like improving housing for people in the Duchy.
It is thoroughly wasteful spending. The Duchies ultimately belong to the people; profits would be better directed to helping the people rather than this profligate family. Nota is right; when they get kicked out, they won’t be taking the Duchies with them.
I did not say Charles owns the Duchy of Cornwall, but the income from it is for his upkeep so it does not belong to the taxpayers, and that is what he uses to fund his children’s business (theoretically only business) activities.
And Charles does improve the Duchy. I think his town is Poundbury? Can’t remember. Always want to call it Poundland which I know is not right. I have an unhealthy love of Poundland.
Whether the spending is wasteful or not, the income from it is his, and I’m also aware that should Britain become republican, the duchies and crown estate will revert to the government.
The income isn’t his personally, and he is required to be a good steward and use it wisely. That doesn’t involve 200,000 a year for his lazy DIL’s clothing. The majority of those funds should be poured back in to the Duchy itself, not a handful of spoiled representatives.
Charles is allowed to spend the Duchy’s income as he sees fit. That said, spending a lot of money on Italian designers (extremely well established Italian designers at that) is not the best use of the Duchy’s money. Diana spent a lot of money on clothes, but she was careful to go to up and coming British designers a lot of the time. Any of Suzannah, Goat, Self Portrait etc would have given Kate a much more interesting and considerably cheaper dress than that.
@notasugar: The Windsors as I understand built up an immense personal fortune through that shameful deal with Inland Revenue in the early 20th century, which allowed them to keep a great deal of their money through “voluntary contributions” set by themselves – this allowed the family to invest its own monies. Thus, unless I am mistaken, the Windsors are rich in their own personal right now: real estate, stock portfolios, race horses, art collections, and much of that jewelry, belong to them personally.
The Duchy of Cornwall and the other stuff you mention, I agree, belongs to the taxpayers.
I believe only the royal families of The Netherlands and Lichtenstein are richer than the Windsors personally. Queen Beatrix was always on the list of the world’s richest women – Royal Dutch Petroleum, long since sold off.
So they have through their position, gotten very very rich personally in ways they would not, technically, have to hand over to the Populace if the monarchy was voted out.
If QEII got out with a few paintings, a few parures, a bit of real estate, the priceless stamp collection her grandfather built, she’d have the makings of another family fortune in exile.
The purpose of the Duchy of Cornwall it to provide an income for the Prince of Wales. Charles is the current Prince of Wales. Therefore, the income is his for his and his family’s upkeep. That includes William and Harry. It will be William’s income when he is Prince of Wales and, frankly, I would be much more worried about William’s management than Charles’.
He does not own the Duchy of Cornwall personally; we all agree there. The only time the tax payers come into it is if Charles is claiming deductions he should not.
When you can’t have buttons, choose a dress with a design so huge that the polka-dots *look* like buttons. 😉
Why a new dress every time she appears. No wonder why they need a huge apartment to store all those dresses.
Part of entitled lazy waity and whiny bill middleton strategy to abuse RF tax payers funds – in hope HM/ The Firm/ CH will stop demanding she perform duties and give back.
I wonder where they store all of her clothes too, maybe some of that underground space at KP?
An organization that Charles supports (the Georgian Group) is fighting the building plan to create the basement at KP (the Orangery Yard Project).
Notasugarthere – really? Thanks for the tea 😉
It comes from Sebastian Shakespeare, who isn’t always reliable BUT he has had some interesting things like Jecca getting married in London months before the big celebrations. He was the first/only with that tidbit. Decision on whether or not to approve the Orangery project was supposed to come down this week.
Meanwhile, verdict on France photo trial has been pushed back to September.
I thought open toe shoes were a no no due to BRF protocol? Man I feel lighter myself just looking at her haircut. And that dress is not worth 2k.
Coming back here from the DF link provided by Kaiser. Thanks Kaiser!
“She also revealed that she often feels tempted by a career in tennis, adding: ‘It inspires young people including myself. Every time Wimbledon is on I am thinking ‘Yes, I could do the same’ and get out the racket. Sadly, not the same results.’ ”
Where will the b*s*t end? Really, Katie?
Oh sweet lord did she REALLY say that? Sorry to burst your bubble Kate but you are not really in the “young people” category any more.
One thing is for sure, this Wimbledon stuff is the absolute peak/climax/zenith of her year.
How does D&G still exist? They make the worst, cheapest-looking trash.
Trust me she will be papped there every day or almost every day for the next 2 weeks. Expect Mr and Mrs Pippa Middleton and Ma & Pa to also be spotted in the royal box.
She’s had the wiglets taken out they will be back in for the upcoming holiday to Germany and Poland.
I wonder if she’ll come and go several times in a day so that each can be counted as a separate engagement? Just like getting off a plane and meeting people on the tarmac are considered two engagements.
Yeah, I think that’s the biggest difference in her hair–the extra has been taken out. Probably because it’s been so hot in London lately. As for the dress–I seriously thought she’d had that pregnancy dress re-made. Blergh. The shoes are cute, but are not so great with the dress & tote. And seriously, I looked up that VB tote online; it’s upwards of $1500. Yikes!
I wonder if taking the kids is another bait-and-switch with the press? Germany has interesting and challenging privacy laws for photography in public places. In some cases there, people have successfully argued that you own the rights to your image in a public place. If you can prove that the publication of the photo has negatively-impacted your life, you can potentially have it deleted/banned.
Unless photos are related to an historic event or of VIPs, they may not be allowed. Not sure the kids visiting falls under the banner of being VIPs or historic event. Caroline of Monaco eventually lost her lawsuit against the press, which started in a French court but her win was overturned by a German court. Perhaps because she and her German husband are considered German VIPs and of public interest?
W&K protested photos taken of KM and their son in AU/NZ, even though they were directly across from the press pack and must have know the press were watching Government House. Deliberate? I think so. They demanded the tweet about their son at a kids zoo during a tour be deleted, even though the tweet wasn’t posted until after he had already left.
I wonder what they’ll pull in Germany regarding the press and the kids? This might be another one of their very sly games regarding press and photography of their kids in public places.
On anyone else, this wouldn’t look good. A dress with big polka dots. Seriously. However, on Kate this looks wonderful. I thought her hair is the best it’s ever been, and the shoes are cute too. It’s ridiculous how much designer clothes cost these days. I used to sew my own clothes, and this would be a very simple dress to make.
Mom hair mom dress
So the people in her country pay taxes so she can wear an ugly AF $2600 dress to a tennis match? I swear The royal family are the biggest grifters ever. Get a job
Such a boring dress for the price tag!
Tone deaf. Just completely and utterly tone deaf.
The dress probably costs even more, since the the square neckline is a bespoke version.
I actually like this look for one particular reason–she looks more like the old Kate Middleton than the DOC. I used to really enjoy her look when she was waity Katie, and everything down to the white tote reminds me of it.
…Dolce and Gabbana? Um, If the BRITISH Princess and future (possible) BRITISH Queen, won’t wear BRITISH Designers then what the heck is she for?!!
That’s the second excuse they use for justifying Monarchy.
First excuse for nurses and teachers to finance the Billionaire lifestyle of whining babies who may or may not even want to do it- Tourism!
Second excuse for the poor and struggling to pay taxes for the third homes of part-time charity greeters who say ‘good job!’, call it a day, and expect $2000 dresses while doing so – Promotes British designers!
O RLY?
+1000
Spot on
“whining babies who may or may not even want to do it”—- This so much!
Yes, I agree Elaine. It’s not like there aren’t any British designers to choose from.
Yes, this, exactly. Wearing a Chanel suit in Paris is one thing. Wearing D&G to Wimbledon is quite another.
With a positive DM story on Duchess Sophie Wessex recycling her Ascot outfit for the Hampton Court flower opening show – Sophie 10 Brownie points.
+100
Countess of Wessex often seen in same outfits, perhaps different shoes or accessories, but each garment gets many outings. Which is the way it should be, given how much money the royal women spend on clothes. Difference here is Sophie appears interested in and knowledgeable about, who she meets, where she is visiting etc. Kate gives the impression that her turning up at all should be sufficient, I really don’t believe she studies up on her charities or engagements. I would say this comes with age and experience, but she has been with William for long enough to have cottoned on, and she is 35 years old, time to grow up. If she was more genuinely interested in her patronages, not just the tennis and Ben Ainslie ones, her lack of style and incessant hair twirling would probably be overlooked.,
Sigh. It makes little sense commenting on Kate’s dresses as she never manages to look stylish no matter how much she spends on her outfits.
This dress for example, is a waste of taxpayers’ money. It looks cheap and shouldn’t cost more than £200 – tops.
Hair looks great, I wish she wouldn’t wear dolce & gabbana with their terrible stance on politics.
She probably doesn’t follow politics or doesn’t even know the meanig of the word. Too busy with the kids, you know. (snark) She should be wearing British design. Between the D&G, Gucci and Chanel she’s been seen in lately, the optics are looking worse and worse for Ole Waity. She just doesn’t give a s**t about her role unless it involves overspending on bad clothes or spending time watching tennis or Ben Ainslie. SMDH
I feel spotty…oh so spotty….
A lot of money for a simple spotty dress. I bet a dressmaker could whip up something like this for a LOT less than D&G did. Shamefully expensive really. Should mix up some Zara with it like the Euro royal ladies.
Like the shoes, so summery…and like the wonderful tote bag instead of a teenie clutch.
Her hair is looking great too. No ringlets is such a plus!
Like her hair. And the shoes are cute. Dress looks exactly like the one she wore when she was pregnant, if you remember she had a Marilyn moment with that dress.
Managed to keep an eye on the BBC One to see Andy Murray play the second set. Saw Keen Kate twice: first time speaking with two persons in the box, she was chewing gum. The BBC did not disappoint! Excellent coverage! Second time after the match was suspended due to rain, when she left the royal box. No Ma or Pa or Pippy Jimmy in sight.
I don’t care if it’s D&G that dress is basic as all get out & ugly too, she could have saved her money a found the same dress at Primark.
The dress is cutesy, but nowhere near worth that amount of money. Like someone above said, $200 tops, and that’s reaching. I don’t care how well it’s made.
And she is carrying a tote. Nice change from the clutch.
Only dear Waity can make a pricey dress look cheap! Hair is better. She’s the most clueless spendthrift I’ve ever encountered, and I don’t think Normal Bill spends a penny on his wife’s inane clothing bills! It’s beyond me how she hasn’t even bothered to try to be a member of the Royal Family, instead of a footballer’s wife!
The cut of the dress is fine/good but the giant polka dots are very distracting. It almost hurts my eyes to look at it. The price is absolutely obscene for how unattractive it is.
Why is that bag smashed in at one corner?
Meh on the dress. I sew, and I could do better than that. Poor choice of fabric design for that dress, the dots don’t line up at the seams at all.
I like the sandals from what I can see of them, but if I had her budget, you’d be seeing more interesting shoes/sandals on my feet. LOL
I wonder if she had the waist raised and that caused the break-up of the pattern. Either way, it looks bad and unforgivable for the price.
This is the dress that needs a belt to break the pattern. Everything else is nice, esp the hair trim
The handbag?
Looks like some expensive Birking thing? How much?
It could be, Dignity. It would be just like her to spend thousands on a white purse she probably wouldn’t get much use out of.
According to HRHDuchessKate, the bag is £995 Victoria Beckham and she took it to Wimbledon last year too.
Reminds me of Pippa. Pips is always carrying tote bags like that.
Pips desparately needs a status symbol. Credit Card. Tacky “old style” engagement ring. Tote bag. She always carries tote bags nowadays. Interestingly she doesn’t use the bags as style items but as status symbols only. But she wants to show she “belongs”. She is so nouveau riche.
Pippa, if you have to carry a status symbol to “belong” then you don’t “belong”. Rich people don’t just merely carry status symbols but they integrate them into their style. Then you belong.
Bad 80s dress.
That handbag is also at least the same price as the bag.
That is one ridiculously expensive outfit.
She would probably justify the cost by saying that since she got the promotion to chief patron of Wimbledon, she’s deserves it. We’ll probably never see it again.
I thought part of their purpose was to promote Britain around the world, e.g. wear British designers. I mean, tbf, she wears a lot of McQueen and LK Bennett, but why doesn’t she ever wear Victoria Beckham?
This purse is the first time I’ve seen her with anything VB. I would think VB’s designs would suit Kate better than a lot of the frilly lace stuff she normally sports.
Youthful, summery and stylish! And hooray for different shoes! Usually does pumps.
Can I ask a dumb question? Why do the royals need to carry totes, purses, etc? Is it just to complete an outfit/fashion statement?I feel like you always have someone traveling with you who can hold your things. (For fellow Veep fans, I’m thinking about Gary and the Leviathan!)
I think they carry them so that there wouldn’t be too much backlash even though I’ve seen Kate in particular without handbags. Stop the press! Helper carrying tote! Kate is too precious! End of the joke. Now sarcasm: maybe Keen Kate carries handbag because her preciousness needs her things handy. Like smart phone to see if Andy wrote her back. Reports from mother and nanny on the children. Chewing gum to help her with smoking cravings. And the blusher, let us not forget the blusher for those filler contoured cheeks.
Haha! a fine answer, @soulspa! Thanks!
If I recall correctly, it’s said to be used to:
1) Keep her hands “occupied”, so she doesn’t have to shake hands at times.
2) As a “signal” to her PA, to help end a conversation, or signal that she wants to leave (this is said to be the Queen’s use of the bag as well).
Damn at all that sun damage on her face, arms, and chest. She is not aging well at all.
No she isn’t pippa is just as bad. Do these girls not use sunscreen.
$2500 for the dress and Dolce and Gabbana couldn’t spend 10 minutes matching the pattern so the dots aren’t cut in half? Just because something is designer doesn’t mean it’s good.
I can’t believe this dress is designer. I mean if you’re going to spend thousands of dollars on a dress shouldn’t look better. It looks very cheap and she looks frumpy.
Hate the dress. I like the shoes and bag. The new hair cut is better than what she had before.
I like her shorter hair, but the dress looks like something you can get at Ross for under $100.
Kate always looks nice but always looks the same … just a variation on the previous look.
Diana knocked it out of the park. If Harry and Meghan hook up, Meghan will also hit it out of the park.
I don’t like the mismatched pattern at the waist seam either. But the skirt is pleated so I am not sure the pattern could be matched by any seamstress. (Its mismatched on the model too) A belt would have helped. Or as we were taught in HomeEc classes, not every print will work with every dress pattern.
Off-topic, but STOP THE PRESSES: series 2 of The Windsors (a British sitcom spoofing the Royal Family) is doing a “big” Megan Markle storyline!
https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/the_windsors/interview/richard_goulding/
Very interesting that she’s already considered “fair game” enough to influence the plot. Series 1 referenced Chelsea and Cressida, but just as very minor gags. I’m looking forward to seeing how they portray her…
I’m in the US. How could I view series2? I saw series 1 on YouTube before it was shut down. Very funny! Someone here recommended it last year so thanks!
Minn, use a VPN and use a British IP address. A lot of people use the Hola extension in the Google browser, but I did some research, and Hola was actually selling user history info. In my opinion, it’s best to shell out for a VPN that is truly private, like Express VPN (which is what I use). It gives you a big list of countries to use, as well as US ones. It is *very* reliable across platforms (I use it on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro). I use the British IP to watch all of my Brit shows (I bring it up on my laptop and use Airplay to stream it to my TV).
Hope this helps! 😊 (You’ll love The Windsors!)
I have a couple of “bespoke” dresses as in I went to a seamstress, showed her a picture on a magazine and she copied the dress EXACTLY as it was shown there. I went, for each dress and pants, at least twice to have it fitted before the final round. Even when I went to pick up the clothes I had to wear them there at the store to see if it was all ok. My clothes are cheap, as they should be, but at least you could tell that someone has worked on them to make them fit properly. Sometimes when I ask for something different I have been told NO as that particular modification wouldn’t work on my body.
This clothes she wears, sure are fine, but I think the girl has a disorted idea of her body. Yes she is slim BUT she lacks hips and she has broad shoulders. I think someone should look into her clothes and help her give them some shape and ideas. She can look demure and modern at the same time, she can wear all the colors under the rainbow, she can wear different shoes and combine all that and look stylish.
She’s not my favorite but I won’t lie, I love seeing every post. I like her dull antics and extreme talking-with-hands because I can’t believe someone wanted this spot more than anyone (and won!) has so little concept of how to do even the bare minimum.
As for the look, hair is a lot better, outfit is cute and a respectful length. I have no issues with it.
Not a particular Kate fan but thought she looked lovely and classy. Hair much better shorter. Don’t get comparisons with Meghan who is a Canadian actress and dresses as such. They are not aiming for the same look – or shouldn’t be.
FYI/ Meghan is an American actress, living and filming in Canada.
Apart from the fact it is goid to be accurate, does it actually matter?
Well for now. The show has been cancelled in England. Not sure about everywhere else.
I imagine to most Canadians (and many Americans) it does, yes. It annoys the heck out of a lot of Irish people when people like Caitriona Balfe are referred to as “Brit” actresses. Countries are not interchangeable.
@carolind
You okay being called French? I mean, those two countries are right next to each other, right?
I’m Canadian, and I despise being called American.
Yuck, cheap looking dress, sandals and bag. No class, keep trying.
I remember all those years ago when Kate was unveiled as Williams girlfriend. I remember thinking meh and bleh and all these years later, I still find her meh and bleh. I rolled my eyes a lot when people wouldn’t shut up about her before the wedding , to me she is the very definition of bland & unremarkable. Something nice- I like her bag & her shorter hair looks pretty.
I think the majority of her charity work would be fulfilled if she donated half the money she spent on generic dresses such as these. $2600 for polka dots? Can’t find that for say, $500? How many meals/services could be rendered for $2100?
Diana wore polka dots, but, I don’t know, she, as usual, wore them better.
No matter how much something costs she always manages to make it look downmarket. She should just cap her outfits at 250 pounds and be done with it. And I mean shoes and handbag too. There is no point anymore.
Her hair looks better.
I think if you are going to spend that much on an item of clothing it should be something you can wear more than once, not a high contrast “statement” item. Her older, “high street” style was so much better, I don’t understand the rationale for going for more expensive, busier looking clothes.
Doubt she paid anything at all for it, so why not.
hair looks better without extensions – dress ok but why does she keep pulling faces and gurning – it looks false and fools nobody
“Gurning”?
Oxford dictionaries – to pull a grotesque face
I love the haircut, it’s much more stylish and doesn’t drag her whole face down. I actually like the polka dot dress, but not for $2,500. The bag is meh but i think the shoes are great (but that’s probably because I’m so sick of her nude heels and wedges)
As usual, she looks fine.
Almost into secnd week of Wimbledon and she has attended once I thought she was now royal patron