The Sartorial Symbolism Behind Kate Middleton’s Outfit at Trooping the Colour

On June 14, the night before Trooping the Colour, Kate Middleton made a surprise announcement: She would attend the official state celebration with the rest of the royal family.

It made worldwide news. This would not only be the Princess of Wales’s first public appearance in six months but the first since she shared her cancer diagnosis. “I’m looking forward to attending the King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet,” she said in a statement. “I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much-needed time to heal.”

And on Saturday, amid the pouring rain, she rode down the Mall in a horse-drawn carriage, wearing a white Jenny Packham dress accented with black-and-white ribbon and paired with a wide-brim hat by Philip Treacy. Later, she stepped out onto the Buckingham Palace balcony. She smiled when her six-year-old son, Prince Louis, began dancing to the bagpipe music below and played with the hair of her daughter, Charlotte. Throughout it all, photographers captured thousands and thousands of photos.

Considering the princess was unable to make any remarks during Trooping the Colour, the image she presented through her clothing needed to be a style statement—quite literally. So what did it say? Her Jenny Packham dress was stylish without being particularly adventurous. While in 2023 she chose a custom look by Singapore-born, Paris-based designer Andrew Gn, this year she opted for a tried-and-true brand she’s worn countless times before. Internet sleuths also quickly deduced that the dress was upcycled: The princess wore a remarkably similar look to a coronation lunch in May 2024 and updated it with a black-and-white-striped belt and a bow. She picked something that felt reassuringly familiar and, most of all, like classic Kate.