Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales in November 2025.
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The Gist
While the late Queen Elizabeth preferred a more formal style of dress, royal style has become more relaxed since her son took the throne.
King Charles’s passion for sustainability has inspired more rewears and conscientious fashion choices.
Kate Middleton’s style has become more refined as she prepares to one day become queen.
Since King Charles III’s 2023 coronation, several members of the royal family have made subtle changes to their personal style.
Take, for example, Kate Middleton’s formerly beloved espadrille wedges. Once her summer shoe staple, it’s hard to imagine the breezy kicks popping up at an engagement today. Casual clothes have been gradually phased out of her closet since her early Duchess of Cambridge days, with the formality of her fashions only increasing when she became Princess of Wales in late 2022.
That’s not to say she’s matched the primness of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who was only photographed wearing pants a handful of times in her 70-year reign—but there’s undeniably been a shift toward more regal attire, befitting a future queen. Princess Kate is more frequently snapped in suits than in skinny jeans; the twee fascinators of her past have given way to broad-brimmed hats; her jewelry choices are more spectacular than ever.
Kate and other royals’ fashion evolutions are partly the result of their taking on more senior roles within the monarchy, but they also reflect the different standards that have arisen in the King Charles era. Ahead, learn more about the ways the royal family’s style has changed since he took the throne.
There’s been a general relaxing of royal style under Charles.
Queen Camilla and King Charles in March 2026.
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Charles’s mother, Elizabeth, loved bright colors, pearls, quaint hats, and her signature Launer handbags. Her daily uniform was curated outside the context of the social-media age, and echoed the stricter codes of dress she’d grown up around as a member of the Greatest Generation. Chief among these codes: the queen rarely appeared without nude pantyhose at public appearances, setting a standard for other Windsor women that has since been relaxed.
In a 2025 Bloomberg interview, Meghan Markle specifically called out having “to wear nude pantyhose all the time” as one way she couldn’t be relatable while in her role as Duchess of Sussex. Since she’s no longer a working royal, the As Ever founder isn’t subject to the Firm’s fashion standards anymore—but what about those who are?
Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2018.
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While Princess Kate still wears hose on occasion, she often opts for pantsuits or tailored trousers, negating the need to wear tights. The move also represents a break with the late queen’s preference for skirts and dresses.
The modernization of the royal dress code in the King Charles era coincides with a society-wide decrease in formality (hi, pajamas at the airport). It’s not just a trend among younger royals, either: Queen Camilla, 78, has donned skinny jeans and black tights on occasion, a marked departure from Elizabeth-era fashion.
His passion for sustainability has sparked a rewearing trend.
Princess Anne at the Commonwealth Day Service in March 2026.
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Princess Anne has long been dubbed the ‘queen of the royal rewear’ by the media—but others have started coming for her title. Admittedly, Kate, Camilla, and others have been in the outfit-repeater club since before Charles’s ascension to the throne, but the habits have seemingly ramped up in recent years. Behind it all? The king himself.
Charles told British Vogue in December 2020 that he’s “one of those people who hate throwing anything away. Hence, I’d rather have them maintained, even patched if necessary, than to abandon them.” Case in point: he famously still wears a double-breasted Anderson & Sheppard tweed overcoat he first debuted in the 1980s.
“Charles’ sustainability push calls for a little bit more conscientious fashion,” digital marketer Jennifer Castro told Reuters in 2022. The Princess of Wales—whose fashion is arguably the most noticed and scrutinized of all—has bolstered her commitment to sustainable fashion practices accordingly (although she doesn’t have a 40-year-old tweed coat in her collection just yet).
Kate Middleton at the 2022 Earthshot Prize Awards.
Credit: Getty
One of Kate’s most eye-catching outfit rewears came at the 2026 BAFTAs, where the princess donned a blush Gucci gown she’d debuted at a 2019 gala dinner. She’s also gotten into the clothing-rental game, wearing a green Solace London dress on loan through Hurr to the 2022 Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony.
Kate Middleton has started dressing the part of a future queen.
While in some ways, royal style has gotten more casual, it’s also become more formal on the individual level for Kate. She and husband Prince William both gained new titles and increased prominence following Her Majesty’s death in September 2022 and Charles and Camilla’s coronations in May 2023.
The former Duchess of Cambridge spent her first year as a princess stocking her closet with brighter colors, more British brands, and fewer prints. Her attire was always polished, but now exudes a pronounced sophistication, whether she’s wearing a powerful trouser suit or a stately gown. She also has greater access to the royal jewelry vault—enabling her to wear a rarely seen tiara, the Oriental Circlet, in December 2025.
Princess Kate in October 2025.
Credit: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool
While Kate has mastered the art of sending messages through her choice of clothing, as the future queen, she’s also keen on shifting the emphasis from what she’s wearing to what she’s doing. To that end, she decided to stop releasing outfit details in February 2025, per People.
As for Queen Camilla, she’s distinguished herself from Queen Elizabeth through her preference for more muted colors, her affinity for brooches over pearls, and her openness to experiment with more tailored and fitted silhouettes. When she wore a bold sapphire jumpsuit in June 2023, royal watchers took notice. Journalist Anna Murphy at The Times wrote that Camilla looked “smoking” in the look.
Queen Camilla arrives at a literary festival on June 11, 2023.
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Royal men (like Prince William) are experimenting with different styles, too.
Prince William in January 2025.
Credit: Hannah McKay / POOL / AFP
Unlike his father Charles, Prince William has been willing to take fashion risks over the past few years (‘risks’ by royal standards, anyway). A trendy Reiss shacket he wore on a January 2025 Cycle of Life outing sold out soon after the engagement, per Ok!. He also hopped on the quarter-zip trend, causing some to compare the prince to your typical finance bro.
In a January 2025 appearance on the Royal Exclusive podcast, News.com.au reporter Bronte Coy suggested William’s fashion transformation has to do with his growing confidence in his role as heir apparent. “I think fashion is a reflection of confidence, and I think when people are feeling a little bit more relaxed and comfortable in their roles that can come out,” she said.
Prince Wiliam and Princess Catherine at the 2026 BAFTA Awards.
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More recently, he helped play into a power-couple moment at the 2026 BAFTAs with Princess Kate, wearing a burgundy Giorgio Armani tuxedo jacket that matched his wife’s accessories. Such moments offer an opportunity for William to differentiate himself from his father, showing off a personal style that’s more relatable and personable than the ensembles of male royals before him.
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