When it comes to her wardrobe, Kate Middleton has a tried-and-tested formula for official engagements, from her Catherine Walker coat dresses to her sharp Alexander McQueen tailoring. Today, though, for a visit to Castle Hill Academy in Croydon to mark Children’s Mental Health Week, the royal showed that she isn’t afraid to push her sartorial boundaries a little.
For the occasion, Kate wore a chocolate-brown blazer, which she teamed with belted tonal trousers and a light-blue button-down shirt, rolled up at the sleeves. While brown has been a favorite for the royal of late, this particular colour combination—a popular pairing on the fall 2026 catwalks, as seen at the likes of Prada and Stella McCartney—added a freshness to Kate’s usual monochrome palettes.
The most surprising part of the look? Instead of the royal’s trademark nude pumps, she opted for a pair of chocolate-brown loafers by Boden, a shoe that also happens to be trending right now. In fact, the look is arguably one of the Princess’s most fashion-forward of late, with British Vogue’s Daniel Rodgers describing the ensemble as “almost Celine-adjacent.”
While Kate has always leaned into hard-working wardrobe staples, her choice of styling demonstrated a more modern approach to royal dressing—just by making a couple of simple tweaks. Might we see the Princess carrying Michael Rider’s tongue-in-cheek take on the Smiley bag next? We’d love to see it.