Princess Kate’s Style Shift to Pantsuits is a Nod to Her Late Mother-in-Law, Princess Diana

Someday we’ll stop talking about the fact that Princess Kate has worn pantsuits—and only pantsuits—for nearly a month, but that day is not today, okay? As People put it, Kate’s style motto has become “Eat, sleep, pantsuit, repeat”—and her workwear uniform may be a nod to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.

“I think it marks a new era in her royal life,” said Bethan Holt, fashion director at The Daily Telegraph and the woman who literally wrote the book on Kate’s style, penning The Duchess of Cambridge: A Decade of Modern Royal Style in 2021 (when she still held that title, before she became Princess of Wales). “It shows her confidence is growing and that she’s willing to take more risks and do something that might not have come naturally to her.” 

Whereas her “love of a fit and flare dress and beige heels was once her go-to fashion formula, in recent months she has been more dating in her fashion choices, and many of her smart outfits now include pants,” People writes. And, whether it’s a suit or separates, a trend is definitely emerging when it comes to what she wears to royal engagements.

“She’s transforming before our eyes,” Holt said. “She might not be able to say to us, ‘Look, my life is now completely different, me and my husband are one step closer to the biggest job of his life,’ but she is saying that through her fashion choices.”

The current Princess of Wales is like the former Princess of Wales—Diana—in that her style shift comes at a critical time in her royal life. “Diana had her own trouser suit moment in the late 1980s at a time when she wanted to be taken more seriously,” Holt said. “She said to designers, 'I’m sick of the frothy ball gowns—I want to wear menswear.’ She had these fabulous power suit moments.” She wore blazers everywhere from film premieres to polo matches, People reports, and with shoulder pads, as one did in the 1980s.

Of Kate’s style transformation, “I think what’s really interesting is how it’s taken quite a serious slant,” Holt said. “There’s a lot of very polished tailoring—it’s a very sleek silhouette and quite a controlled look.”