
Prince William and Kate Middleton are just days away from embarking on their royal tour of Pakistan, which is scheduled for October 14-18.
The tour, which Kensington Palace announced in June, was requested by the U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and will mark the first official visit to the country by a member of the British royal family since Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles visited in 2006.
Royal experts are looking back on previous royal tours of the country to predict how Will and Kate's visit will go. Those other royal visits to Pakistan include two by the Queen (in 1961 and again in 1997) and one by Princess Diana, who traveled there on a solo trip in 1991.
Now, let's pause for some photos of Diana's visit to Pakistan:
Kate will likely look to Diana's trip for wardrobe inspiration, according to Susan Kelley, editor and founder of fashion blog WhatKateWore.com.
"I think we will probably see at least one traditional shalwar kameez—the top and loose trousers look — from Kate on this trip," Kelley told People. "Diana wore that look multiple times in Pakistan and I think she has on occasion looked to Diana for inspiration, while being careful not to copy her."
Another nod Kate will like give to Diana's Pakistan visit looks? Green.
"I think we’ll see the color green incorporated [to represent the green flag of Pakistan], and I think we may see jasmine, the national flower, used somehow in her clothing choices," Kelley said.
Kelley says there's also a good chance that Kate will wear pieces by Pakistani designers during the trip. This is a good guess, since Kate has made a point of wearing fashion by local designers during previous tours, such as the red maple leaf hat by Lock & Co. she wore during her tour of Canada in 2011 and the silver fern-leaf embroidered Jenny Packham dress she wore during her trip to New Zealand in 2014.
"There are some really tremendous designers either in Pakistan or with Pakistani roots. There’s one called Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (known as HSY) Asim Jofa, Osman, who is British-based but also has Pakistani roots and there’s a tremendous history of Pakistan fabrics with vibrant colors and patterns," she said.
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Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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