Who Wore It Best: Princess Beatrice or Duchess Kate?
Who Wore It Best: Princess Beatrice or Duchess Kate?
Royal fashion is very specific. Protocol requires senior members of Europe's royal families to dress in such a style that is both chic and modest. Naturally, many of these princesses, from Kate Middleton to Princess Sofia, and even Queen Maxima and Princess Charlene, turn to the same designers again and again, and every so often, they wear the exact same looks.
Here are seventeen different times princesses were caught in the same outfits, plus one striking American example that we couldn't help but include.
1) The Vampire's Wife dress
Princess Beatrice and Duchess Kate wore similar emerald dresses from cool-girl brand, The Vampire's Wife.
Princess Beatrice attended The Dior Sessions book launch afterparty on October 1, 2019 in London.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, attended Guinness Storehouse’s Gravity Bar in Dublin during the first day of her Ireland visit on March 3, 2020.
2) Self-Portrait gown
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, attends the U.K. Premiere of "A Street Cat Named Bob" in aid of Action On Addiction at The Curzon Mayfair on November 3, 2016 in London, United Kingdom.
Princess Sofia of Sweden attends for a State Banquet in honor of South Korea's presidential couple at the Royal Palace in Stockholm on June 14, 2019.
3) Emilia Wickstead dress
Sophie Countess of Wessex attends Royal Ascot Day 1 at Ascot Racecourse on June 19, 2018
Princess Beatrice Windsor during Trooping The Colour, the Queen's annual birthday parade, on June 8, 2019
4) Stella McCartney
Princess Charlene of Monaco walks on the red carpet before the 2018 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony at the Sporting Monte-Carlo complex in Monaco on February 27, 2018.
Queen Maxima of The Netherlands leaves the Royal Palace after the annual gala diner for the Diplomatic Corps on April 09, 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
5) A Royal Favorite
Designer Jenny Packham's gowns are a royal favorite, and not just of the Brits'. Here are four different occasions when princesses wore her style:
From left to right: Alexandra Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg celebrated Queen Margrethe's 40th jubilee in a crimson version of Jenny Packham's dress back in January of 2012.
Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg attended the wedding of Prince Felix of Luxembourg and Claire Lademacher wearing a purply-blue gown on September 21, 2013.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrived at the Tusk Conservation Awards in November 2018 wearing jade green version of the dress.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden attended a gala in New York in the same number in October of 2013.
6) Charlotte Casiraghi and Princess Alexandra of Hanover
Even royals get their sister's hand-me-downs. On May 2, 2019, Alexandra, right, wore the blue-green dress that her older sister wore fourteen years prior. Charlotte wore the dress on July 12, 2005 for her uncle, Albert II's, coronation. Alexandra then dug the dress out of the archives for an Alberta Ferretti fashion show in Monte Carlo.
7) Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Princess Madeleine of Sweden
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, left, wears Giambattista Valli to the Tilburg Theater for the Kingsday concert on April 4, 2017. On the right, HRH Princess Madeleine of Sweden wears the same dress to the World Childhood Foundation Thank You Gala on October 3, 2018 in New York City.
8) Princess Mette-Marit or Norway and Princess Mary of Denmark
At right, Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore a dress by Raquel Diniz to the opening of the exhibition "Towards the Forest—Knausgaard on Munch" in Oslo, Norway in May, 2017. On left, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark wore the same dress to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in August 28, 2018.
9) Kate Middleton & Meghan Markle
Left: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrived for the 2014 Royal Variety Performance wearing Diane von Furstenberg's Zarita dress. In November of 2017, she rewore the dress to a charity gala at Kensington Palace.
Right: Before she was royal, the Duchess of Sussex attended an event for USA Network in 2012, wearing a shorter, navy blue version of the Zarita, two years before Duchess Kate stepped out in the style.
10) Princess Mary of Denmark & Princess Charlene of Monaco
Left: Princess Mary of Denmark attended a business seminar at Hotel Gajoen Tokyo, wearing Vilshenko in October of 2017.
Right: Princess Charlene of Monaco wore the same floral dress one year earlier, though she styled with black pumps as opposed to nude, at Monaco's traditional end-of-summer picnic in September of 2016.
11) Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge & Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
Left: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attended a reception in February of 2017 to mark the launch of the UK-India Year of Culture. For the occasion, she wore a sparkly Erdem frock.
Right: Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore the same dress at the Canadian Museum of History back in November of 2016.
12) Princess Victoria of Sweden & Queen Maxima of The Netherlands
Left: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden attended the christening of Prince Alexander on September 9, 2016 in Stockholm in a peachy-pink Ellie Saab dress.
Right: Queen Maxima of the Netherlands visited the Champalimaud Centre in Portugal on October 11, 2017, wearing the same lace number.
13) Queen Maxima of The Netherlands & Princess Charlene of Monaco
Left: Queen Maxima of the Netherlands attended the opening of the new season of the Koninklijke orchestra in Amsterdam back in September of 2015, wearing one of the more daring looks on this list: a Valentino jumpsuit.
Right: Princess Charlene of Monaco also wore the look that fall to a Red Cross Gala in Monte-Carlo.
14) Princess Marie Chantal of Greece & First Lady Melania Trump
Left: Crown Princess Marie Chantal wore a long-sleeved, floor-length Valentino to a gala dinner in honor of the King and Queen of Norway's 80th birthdays.
Right: First Lady Melania Trump opted for a shorter version of the same Valentino floral to watch the 2017 Bastille Day military parade along Avenue des Champs-Elysees.
15) Princess Sofia of Spain & Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Left: Princess Sofia attended Spain's National Day military parade on October 12, 2016 wearing a pint-sized red Carolina Herrera coat.
Right: Just one month earlier, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge was spotted wearing the adult version while on a royal tour of Canada.
16) Princess Claire of Luxembourg & Princess Mette Marit of Norway
Left: Princess Claire of Luxembourg attended the 2016 National Day Celebration in Luxembourg wearing a pastel Vilshenko dress.
Right: Crown Princess Mette Marit of Norway wore an extremely similar Vilshenko style on the exact same day during a royal event at Stiftsgarden in Trondheim.
17) Crown Princess Victoria and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal
Left: Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece attended Derby Day in Epsom, England wearing a pink Dolce and Gabbana dress with button accents.
Right: Just days later, Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria wore the exact same style (though she opted for a less-striking topper) to Princess Leonore's christening.
18) Meghan Markle and Queen Letizia
Left: On October 24, 2019, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attended a roundtable discussion about gender equality as part of the One Young World summit, wearing a chic red leather Hugo Boss pencil skirt with a burgundy v-neck sweater.
Right: On the same day, Queen Letizia of Spain twinned with the Duchess for a meeting in Seoul, only she paired the skirt with a crisp white blouse.
Consider this classiest version of "who wore it best?" you've ever read.