Kate Middleton’s ‘Pure Glamor’ Moment Goes Viral

The Princess of Wales’ appearance at one of the royal family’s premier sports events has found praise on social media, after footage from the 2023 Royal Ascot horseracing event in England resurfaced on video-sharing site TikTok.

Royal Ascot is a horseracing festival with historic links to the monarchy, hosted at the Ascot Racecourse, which sits on crown-owned land, just a short drive from Windsor Castle in Berkshire.

Across the five-day festival, members of the royal family attend, with an official carriage procession taking place at the start of each day. Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth II would traditionally attend all five days, and in his first year as sovereign, King Charles III and Queen Camilla kept up this regular attendance.

Following her marriage to Prince William in 2011, Kate has attended Royal Ascot on five separate occasions, giving royal fans a chance to speculate on her highly anticipated fashion choices.

The 2023 festival marked Kate’s first appearance with William in their new elevated royal positions as Prince and Princess of Wales, titles that were given to them by King Charles soon after his accession.

Uploaded to TikTok by user @princess__jo on December 17, footage of Kate arriving at Royal Ascot on June 23, 2023 has gone viral, showing the princess exiting her horse-drawn carriage wearing a vivid red dress and matching hat.

The outfit was designed by Kate’s most-trusted fashion adviser, Sarah Burton, and was one of the designer’s last royal pieces before she announced that she was leaving the house of Alexander McQueen in September.

The dress featured a wrap-front bodice and fit-and-flare silhouette. The bold block color choice was likened at the time to the uniform style adopted by the late Elizabeth, who ensured her outfits were suitably bright enough to be seen in a large crowd.

Royal expert Christine Ross told Newsweek at the time that Kate “seems to be employing one of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s sartorial tricks, wearing head-to-toe bold colors in order to be seen more easily.”

“By wearing bright colors,” Ross said, “even the furthest seats can say they caught a glimpse of the Princess of Wales. This was a powerful tool used by Queen Elizabeth II, and this shows that both women know the power of their fashion choices.”

The TikTok video has gained over 160,000 views on the platform so far and received in excess of 5,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have praised Kate and her famous style.

“Pure Glamour,” wrote one user, with another adding: “Absolutely stunning.”

A further comment highlighted the princess’ acknowledgement of the carriage attendant who helped her out onto the racecourse. “She always acknowledges the people helping her or opening doors for her!” they wrote.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

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