Queen Elizabeth was known collegially as “the Rainbow Queen,” keen to wear a myriad of colors so that wherever she went, she could be spotted in a crowd. Typically the brighter the better—think lime green, electric blue, and hot pink—there were few colors that Her late Majesty didn’t try, believing, as she once famously said, that she had to be seen to be believed.
Her granddaughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, also wears a variety of colors (though she does seem to prefer blue—and for a time, the other women of the royal family were following suit). There are three colors, though, that Kate rarely gravitates towards: orange, purple, and dark brown, The Daily Express reports. Why? The outlet dug into it with fashion stylist Francesca Cairns.
“She tends to avoid certain colors, not because they’re ‘wrong,’ but because she knows what really brings out her natural beauty,” Cairns told the outlet. “It’s all about dressing to compliment her features, and that’s something we can all learn from her.”
In addition to blue, Kate also leans into shades of pink and berry often, and Cairns said of the Princess of Wales “I know people really struggle to put Kate into a season because she does look amazing all the time—however, she is a summer,” she said. Because Kate doesn’t wear orange, purple, and dark brown very often, when she does, the looks become “standout shades,” Cairns said—and the fashion expert chose six outfits, two from each color, to drive home her point.
ORANGE
Over two years ago—fresh off of her 2022 Caribbean tour with husband Prince William—Marie Claire reported that Kate rarely wears orange, though she did incorporate the hue while in Jamaica on the tour. This look, from Kate’s visit with Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness in March 2022, made Cairns' list of standout moments; she wore a chic white blazer and trouser suit from Alexander McQueen with a pop of color in the form of an orange blouse by Ridley. “Kate looks better with colors that have a blue undertone rather than a yellow undertone,” Cairns said. “Anything from her true summer palette really makes her features glow.” Orange is a color that Kate is careful with because it can “clash” with Kate’s natural coloring, Cairns added—but this rare dip into the shade was a hit.
Kate opted for a more subtle variation of orange in 2013, when she wore a coral Tara Jarmon coat for an engagement at Naomi House Children’s Hospice in Hampshire to mark Children’s Hospice Week. The piece was collarless and single-breasted “with bound buttonholes, darts at the waist and shoulder, angled front pockets, and had a deep back vent,” The Daily Express reports. For this visit, Kate was roughly six months pregnant with Prince George (born on July 22, 2013), and spent time touring the facilities—including the gardens, children’s bedrooms, and therapy pool.
PURPLE
Purple is another color rarely worn by the Princess of Wales, and Cairns said if the shade is “too intense” it could detract from Kate’s natural features. “While purple can be a striking choice, particularly for cooler undertones, the intensity and undertones of the color are crucial,” Cairns said. “Bright purples, leaning towards warmer tones or with too much intensity, risk overpowering Kate’s features, detracting from her natural elegance.” Last November—deep into her pantsuit era—Kate wowed in this purple Emilia Wickstead look “and oozed confidence from the minute she arrived at the Shaping Us National Symposium at The Design Museum in London,” The Daily Express writes.
Adhering to her summer palette, Cairns—who has been a stylist for over a decade—said she “absolutely loves” Kate in colors like “berry and burgundy,” which are not as bright in color as the aforementioned purple Emilia Wickstead suit. During a memorial service to mark the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death, Kate wore a burgundy hat by Sahar Millinery to match her coat from London-based designer Eponine for a church service at St. David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire. Sahar Millinery, by the way, is run by designer Sahar Freemantle, a scholar with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, a charity that supports the training of talented and aspiring craftspeople. To further honor Her late Majesty, Kate also wore Queen Elizabeth’s diamond and pearl drop earrings for the service.
DARK BROWN
The final hue rarely employed by Kate is dark brown; Cairns found this knee-length coat Kate wore to an engagement in Cornwall in February 2023 “too dark and warm” for the princess, and believes “taupe brown” works best for her. (The coat was from the British brand Hobbs London, specifically the Women’s Brown Unlimited Celeste Flare Coat, “believed to be a newer version of the Hobbs 2011 Celeste Coat in Chestnut Brown that she also owns and is made from a chestnut brown wool fabric,” The Daily Express reports.)
While visiting Boston in December 2022 on behalf of William’s Earthshot Prize Awards, Kate chose a deep brown, long coat from Alexander McQueen while braving the near-freezing temperatures at Boston Harbor; she paired it with a matching scarf and gloves. “Underneath her coat, it seemed Kate was wearing a long, orange dress with a high neck, which brightened up her ensemble,” The Daily Express reports—and combined two rarely-worn colors into one look.
