Kensington Palace will ‘stop releasing details of Kate’s outfits’ in new ‘substance over style’ focus
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Kensington Palace will no longer announce details of the Princess of Wales’ outfits in order to put the focus on the “really important issues” she is highlighting, reports suggest.
Kate’s fashion choices regularly make headlines, and Kensington Palace has previously tended to share information with the media about the clothes and jewellery that she wears while carrying out royal duties and high-profile engagements.
However, according to a report in The Sunday Times, this practice is set to end as the 43-year-old gradually returns to work after completing cancer treatment last year.
The aim is to place more of an emphasis on the “substance” of the princess’s work, rather than “the style”.
“There is an absolute feeling that it [the public work] is not about what the princess is wearing,” a palace source told the paper.
“She wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting. There will always be an appreciation of what the princess is wearing from some of the public and she gets that.
“But do we need to be officially always saying what she is wearing? No. The style is there but it’s about the substance.”
When Kate embarked on a handful of engagements in South Wales earlier this week, the palace did not reveal details of her outfits to the press.
The Sunday Times report suggests, however, that Kensington Palace may still occasionally share information about outfits or jewellery worn for the most high-profile events in the royal calendar.
The Independent has contacted Kensington Palace for further comment.
This move may be part of a change in Kate’s approach to her royal duties following her cancer diagnosis last year.
In a message shared in September to mark the completion of preventative chemotherapy treatment, the Princess of Wales said that her experience of cancer had brought her “a new perspective on everything” and had prompted her to consider the “simple yet important things in life”.
Kate’s latest initiative, aimed at developing the nation’s social and emotional skills, was unveiled today (2 February).
The Royal Foundation’s Centre of Early Childhood released a report setting out 30 “crucial life skills” that should be taught during a child’s early development.
The report stresses the importance of looking at young children during conversations with them, rather than getting distracted by smartphones and encourages parents to help their children develop “agency” by allowing them to follow particular habits such as using a favourite plate or “wearing their sparkly t-shirt, even when it needs a wash”.
