Why Has Kate Changed to Trousers All the Time?

Sartorial shift is a mistake tied to a potentially bigger blunder contemplated by the Wales' household.

Today, the Princess of Wales was at Evelina London to officially open the new Children’s Surgery Unit. Kate was sporting yet another trouser ensemble. I have to admit that I was immediately disappointed when I saw her outfit. Although this suit was certainly one of her better ones, given the sheer multitude of trouser ensembles, I felt bored and disappointed. Coats and scarves and boots are so much more fun and more fashionable than this vanilla CEO style.

A lot of royal-fashion fans are wondering why Kate has suddenly switched to wearing trousers almost exclusively. I have heard some people hypothesize that since the Queen died Kate feels freed to wear her preferred style—trousers.

I don’t agree with this theory for three reasons. The first is that Kate started wearing trousers before the Queen died. The second is that the Queen died over a year ago, and this more radical shift is only a few months old. The third is that pre-royal Kate was a dress/skirt girl. Sure she wore jeans plenty—we all do—but she wore dresses and skirts all the time in casuals settings.

It is true that one’s fashion preferences can change, but I think that this recent trend toward trousers is down to William and Kate’s goal to shift the kind of royals they are. After they were scorched for being archaic, colonialist, and even racist on their tour of the Caribbean last year, I think the couple have been working with aides to come up with a new path forward.

Unfortunately, I think the conclusion has been to try to shift more toward a professional/CEO vibe. They are also looking to do less small community engagements and more big ticket projects with greater “impact.” I am afraid these formal trousers all the time are part of the roll out.

This plan is a mistake. In our democratic western world, monarchies are, indeed, archaic. But they serve the important role as reminders of a country’s history, they carry on national traditions, and they providing a neutral, hopeful, and patriotic focal point for citizens—symbols of pride and national unity. Being royal is entirely different from being an elected official, and the history and pageantry are vital. If the royals dump all that, what is the point of maintaining them in their hereditary privilege? We already democratically elect people to promote modern and innovate social programs. Kate should be beautifully fashionable, because she is an HRH—a royal princess to whom people literally bow—not an all-business, work-driven CEO or a politician.

I am hoping that William and Kate temper their plan to sanitize the monarchy of its archaic qualities—which is really just the tradition that gives a modern monarchy any purpose—and that Kate rebalances her wardrobe. Because just as a monarchy needs the pomp, pageantry, and tradition that make it worthwhile, so too, a monarchy’s princesses should be beautifully and fashionably dressed. Kate should not be afraid of fashion, rather, she should embrace it. It is the only real way forward.