Princess Catherine Makes a Statement in a Familiar Hat During Surprise Appearance
The Princess of Wales seems to have the same fedora in at least three different colors
Kate Middleton’s Sunday style came complete with a royal repeat.
On Aug. 25, the Princess of Wales, 42, made a surprise appearance when she was photographed driving to church at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral Castle in Scotland with her husband, Prince William. It was a rare sighting of the Princess of Wales, who has attended two public events this year after announcing in March that she is undergoing treatment for cancer — and she appeared to wear the same hat that she sported to Crathie Kirk last summer.
In photos snapped of her sitting in the passenger’s seat as her husband drove, Princess Kate wore a fedora identified as Hicks & Brown’s Suffolk Fedora in dark brown. The Princess of Wales paired the feathered hat with a brown plaid coat, her hair down and dangling earrings, making a similar fashion statement to her drive to church in August 2023 alongside Prince William and Prince Andrew.
For a Sunday service at Crathie Kirk last summer, Princess Kate wore the fedora with her hair twisted back, drop earrings and what may have been the same brown plaid trench she wore on Aug. 25. The collar, epaulet and gold buttons seem similar, and fan blog Royal Fashion Police identified Kate’s latest coat in the tawny colorway as a rewear from Holland Cooper.
The Princess of Wales’ latest fashion statement might be somewhat of an outfit formula, as she already had the same Holland Cooper Full Length Marlborough Trench Coat in another color (heather tartan!) and two other Suffolk Fedoras from Hicks & Brown in her royal wardrobe.
Princess Kate previously wore the fedora in navy with pheasant wrap for a Norfolk church outing in January 2020, and again in olive in the rare home video she and Prince William released for their tenth wedding anniversary in 2021.
“Kate usually wears more formal styles, but she was attending church on a winter’s day and our hats are made from wool, so they do add a bit of warmth,” Hicks & Brown co-founder Alice Leet-Cook previously told PEOPLE.
While Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh was the first British royal to sport the style in the camel hue several years before, the brand couldn’t confirm if Sophie referred the label to Kate.
“There is a high possibility, but honestly we don’t know,” Leet-Cook told PEOPLE in 2020. “Kate’s team got in touch with us at the end of last year and we were just thrilled. We spent most of Sunday jumping around the room, over the moon once we saw she had actually worn it!”
Crathie Kirk is the go-to church for the British royals during stays in Scotland, and Princess Kate isn’t the only member of the family known to switch up her style while there.
Queen Elizabeth was known to reach for tartan while in Scotland, while King Charles often opts for kilts — a fashion statement Prince William has yet to make!
The royal family was expected to continue the tradition of spending some of the late summer at Balmoral, their private paradise of 50,000 acres in the Scottish Highlands, as Princess Kate and the King both continue to undergo treatment for cancer.
“She won’t have to be on center stage,” a palace insider previously told PEOPLE about how the Princess of Wales could relax at Balmoral. “Being with her family and just being herself will give her energy. There will be plenty of time to focus on her recovery.”
Next week, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, are due to return to school, and Prince William’s public duties pick back up again in London on Sept. 5. There’s still no official word as to when the Princess of Wales will resume public duty, and her last official public appearance was on July 14, when she attended Wimbledon alongside daughter Princess Charlotte and sister Pippa Middleton.
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Source: New York Post
