Despite the fact that the fashion pages of magazines and websites can’t seem to get enough of Kate Middleton’s chic sense of fashion, there’s someone in the royal household who isn’t such a fan of her choices: her man’s grandmother, aka Queen Elisabeth II. Yahoo’s Shine entitles the story: The Rise and Fall of Kate Middleton’s Hemlines.
Her Majesty wants the watching world to see less of her granddaughter-in-law‘s knees and the addition of more sober colours in her wardrobe. Royal expert Victoria Arbiter said: “It doesn’t quite ring true to me. The queen does not run the monarchy as a dictatorship. She allows everyone to live their own lives and do things their way. If she feels very strongly about how something is done or should be done she’ll say something, but she’s a big believer in her family doing things their way and in turn learning by doing.”
So is the 32-year-old going to be forced to wear the blue and pink matching jackets and skirts sported by Her Majesty and clutch that ubiquitous heavy-duty handbag when joining the royal tour? If she fails to do so, will she miss out on the cup of tea and biscotti reported to be on offer from Pope Francis. The Daily Mail – royal watcher par excellence – says the meeting with the Queen will take place it in “a simple Vatican boarding house”.
Fashion designer Alice Temperley doesn’t believe the Duchess of Cambridge needs a make-over (though she may have a vested interest since Kate and her sis do shell out for Temperley‘s clothes now and then). She said: “Kate is an inspiration. She is graceful, gracious and the perfect modern-day woman.”
Eagle-eyed fashion writers have been watching Middleton’s hemlines dropping alarmingly every since she stepped across the Welcome mat at the house of Windsor. But is this perhaps all a bit rich coming from the head of the family who herself had a somewhat racy notion of fashion when she was a slip of a girl?
In her Guardian article On Her Majesty’s secret chicness, Linda Grant reminds us that Elizabeth’s predeccesor (Elizabeth One) was locked up in “pearl-encrusted bodices”. She goes on to say about the current incumbent: “We forget that once she was, if not a trendsetter, nonetheless wearing the newest styles by the hottest, albeit British, designers. In the 60s even, she wore a miniskirt, demonstrating the more iron strictures of style 40 years ago, when designers dictated hemlines.”
Look out Katie for wearing the nifty number below on the forthcoming family’s tour Down Under.
Feature photo: Pat Pilon
