Right from the beginning, Kate wore a royal blue Issa gown for her engagement announcement that mirrored the blue dress worn by Princess Diana for her own engagement announcement. More than that, Kate has also fostered a royal love affair with designer Catherine Walker, a close friend of Princess Diana, who designed over 1,000 of her outfits.
Both were right at home on a red carpet as well. The example that lingers in the mind is the outfit Kate chose for the premiere of No Time To Die – the latest film in the James Bond franchise – where she solidified her reputation as the Duchess of Dazzle, wearing an incredible gold sequinned cape dress by one of her favourite designers, Jenny Packham.
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Kate Middleton in gold sequinned Jenny Packham ©Getty
Many were quick to point out that the dress looked a bit familiar…And indeed, at the July 1985 premiere of James Bond film A View To A Kill, Princess Diana wore a stunning gold lamé gown by Bruce Oldfield, very similar to the one worn by her daughter-in-law three decades later.
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Princess Diana in Bruce Oldfield, 1985
So, from their engagement photos to their exits from the Lindo wing after giving birth, we’ve charted every time Kate Middleton has paid sartorial homage to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.