Princess Kate’s brother, James Middleton, shared some family photos on Instagram to celebrate his 39th birthday, and in one sweet snapshot of himself and his wife, Alizée Thevenet, she’s wearing a very familiar piece of royal clothing. In the picture, James kisses his wife on the cheek as they stand on a mountain top, and Alizée appears to be wearing the same quilted brown leather vest that both Kate and Pippa Middleton sported in the early 2000s.
My group chat was abuzz last evening when a post by Middleton Maven on Instagram revealed the coincidence, with the blogger sharing a photo of Kate in 2006 alongside the image of James and Alizée. The vest in question is a piece from Hidepark Leather, and Alizée paired the quilted style with a yellow sweater, light-wash jeans and a flat cap.
Princess Kate wore the leather vest to watch Prince William play in an “old boys match” at Eton College in 2006, along with a private trip to Norfolk that December, when she paired the gilet with a scarf and Western-style hat. Pippa then wore the same vest in photos for her party planning book Celebrate, which was published in 2012.
Whose vest it was to begin with—or whether their sister-in-law happened to own the same 20-year-old style—remains a mystery. But in his birthday post, James reflected on the last year of his thirties.
“Today’s my birthday and every year feels like a bigger climb ⛰️ but reaching the top and seeing how far you’ve come never gets old ❤️” James wrote, sharing a carousel of photos from a hiking trip in England’s Lake District. “Entering the final year of my 30s and more excited than ever….”
