Princess Kate made three appearances at Wimbledon this year—and wore green for each one. At her 2023 Wimbledon debut on July 4, Kate wore a mint green Balmain blazer (her first time wearing the celebrity-favored line) with a white pleated skirt and heels. For the women’s singles final on Saturday, she wore a tennis ball green Self Portrait dress, and yesterday, for the men’s singles final, she wore a Roland Mouret dress in emerald green.
Kate doesn’t often wear one color for the entirety of her Wimbledon appearances—last summer, for example, she wore two blue polka dot dresses in different shades of the hue; she also wore bright yellow. The year before, it was green, pink, and blue and white—but, again, not one note.
So, that begs the question—why? Well, a few reasons pop into mind immediately. Green is Kate’s favorite color (she favors it because it reminds her of nature, she’s said in the past). In her Wimbledon looks, she chose three very different shades of the color, showing range. But the likely reason, per Tatler? It pays homage to Wimbledon’s official colors, unofficially christened “Wimbledon purple” and, you guessed it, “Wimbledon green.” Organizers have used these colors for over a century and the pairing is reflected in the bow Kate wears, signifying her patronage of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, a role she received from Queen Elizabeth in 2016.
“Happily, green is also particularly flattering against the princess’ sun-kissed complexion and flowing brunette locks,” Tatler writes.
Kate’s Balmain blazer was perhaps also a sartorial nod to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana: “The vintage ensemble bore a striking similarity to the green Catherine Walker blazer dress worn by Princess Diana to Trooping the Colour in 1988,” Tatler reports.
Kate’s a fan of the Self Portrait line, and for this look, “Kate donned a vision in the trick-of-the-eye frock, featuring a pretty pleated skirt and boucle blazer sewn into a single silhouette,” the outlet writes. “Even the breezy weather couldn’t ruffle the royal’s polished beauty look, with her brunette locks remaining impeccable in a flowing half-up, half-down style.”
For her final look, she went to another favorite, Roland Mouret, and wore an emerald green midi dress by the designer. It was a departure from “Wales blue,” the color that Kate, her husband Prince William, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis often coordinate in. (True to form, George and Charlotte were both in blue yesterday.) Blue has become such a favorite of the royal family that Marie Claire even reported on it recently (and there have been dozens more blue looks since this story, mostly from the Wales five).
“Marketa Vondrousova and Carlos Alcaraz might have taken home the silverware,” writes Tatler, referring, respectively, to the women’s and men’s singles final winners, “but it’s the Princess of Wales who continued her winning sartorial streak.” Can’t disagree there—so, next year, purple? We’ll see.
