- - Why Kate Middleton's State Banquet Style Is the U.K.'s Secret Diplomatic Weapon: 'She Ticked All the Boxes' (Exclusive)

Monique JessenDecember 20, 2025 at 5:20 AM

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Kate Middleton wore three state banquet looks in 2025, including two different tiaras

Bethan Holt, fashion director at The Telegraph, tells PEOPLE, "She ticked all the boxes of diplomacy, glamour and appropriateness"

Holt adds, "It is a huge amount of pressure for Kate to always deliver this fashion moment at these big state events, but it’s all part of the package"

Nobody wears a state banquet gown quite like Kate Middleton.

From her princess-perfect jeweled Jenny Packham ensemble to welcome the German president recently to the majestic silk and Chantilly lace Philippa Lepley gown for U.S. President Donald Trump's visit, to regal red to welcome the French president in July, the Princess of Wales has mastered three distinctly different state visit looks this year — each a resounding diplomatic triumph.

“I think there is a subtle style evolution. She just seems to be broadening her horizons a little bit, but mostly all three looks were simply a masterclass in sartorial diplomacy,” Bethan Holt, fashion director at The Telegraph, tells PEOPLE. "There’s always a little bit of anticipation, and she ticked all the boxes of diplomacy, glamour and appropriateness."

There was certainly glamour with the blue ombre-effect sequinned Jenny Packham caped gown Kate wore to welcome the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and his wife, Elke Budenbender, at a star-studded banquet at Windsor Castle earlier this month.

“I think fashion-wise, it was a safe choice compared to her other state dinner looks this year, but this was a real ‘wow’ princess moment for her. It’s not something she does often, but I think she does recognize that as a princess, the public will want to see her looking like a princess every so often, and for a state banquet, she can really tick that box — and she did," says Holt, the author of The Duchess of Cambridge: A Decade of Modern Style.

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Kate Middleton at the German state banquet on Dec. 3, 2025

Diplomatically, the glitzy look also hit the mark.

“Kate often wears blue for Germany. Maybe Prussian blue is a little easier to wear than orange, red and black, the colors of the German flag, but the piece de resistance was the tiara. It was truly a tiara and a half, practically a crown! It almost felt like her ascending from princess to queen in that one moment,” says Holt.

For the occasion, Princess Kate picked a symbolic tiara that hasn’t been seen in two decades. The Oriental Circlet Tiara, one of the oldest pieces created by Garrard for the royal family, was a favorite tiara of the late Queen Mother and was only worn once by the late Queen Elizabeth.

“I think because of those emotional family ties and because it was a tiara which had been commissioned by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria," Holt explains. "It was a very clever historical link and a seamless and brilliantly diplomatic move.”

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Kate Middleton at the German state banquet on Dec. 3, 2025

The fashion nods to diplomacy were once again at the front and centre of Kate’s gold gown, designed by Philippa Lepley, for President Trump’s state visit in September. The bespoke silk and lace dress, which featured hand-embroidered Chantilly lace and gold motifs, was the first time British designer Lepley had been chosen to dress Kate at a state event.

"I think Phillipa did a great job, and the fact that Kate felt confident to try something so different with her was great,” says Holt.

“You can really appreciate it on a fashion level, but when you think how she was sitting next to Donald Trump, and you think of his own decorative taste and Mar-a-Lago where everything is gold and ornate, it worked on so many levels,” says the fashion expert. "She can make something classic look exciting; it’s that magic touch she has. It's the touch that A-list actresses have, that supermodels have and Kate has that too. She has the ability to immediately lift something and make it her own.”

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Prince William and Kate Middleton at the U.S. state banquet on Sept. 17, 2025

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More discreet but no less powerful was Kate’s choice to wear a scarlet red caped dress by Sarah Burton for Givenchy to the French state visit in July, a silhouette that was more in line with her signature look.

“That was like a happy reunion with Sarah Burton, and they obviously go back such a long way with Sarah being her wedding dress designer too. There had been a lot of doubt around how they might continue to work together now that Sarah is working for a French fashion house, and that really was the perfect opportunity, and it was a beautiful diplomatic reunion,” notes Holt, adding that the shade of red was a departure for Kate. “It was a very sumptuous, regal red, and sometimes subtle choices like that made a huge difference."

Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace

Kate Middleton and Prince William at the French state banquet on July 8, 2025

For Princess Kate, who has been gradually increasing her workload since her cancer treatment ended in September last year and she announced she was in remission in January, three state banquets in one year (she has attended nine in total since she became a member of the royal family in 2011) was quite the undertaking.

"It is a huge amount of pressure for Kate to always deliver this fashion moment at these big state events, but it’s all part of the package. And as Trump said, this is a royal family like no other, and she knows that," notes Holt.

As for whether she can see more fashion-forward moments next year, new designers or different looks, Holt thinks she knows her style needs to be constantly moving forward, but it's slow and steady.

"It’s a subtle evolution, and she’s definitely still ticking all those boxes that are so integral to who she is as a royal and future queen," says Holt. "Kate knows that the interest in her is going to be there for years to come and that she needs to keep gently moving things on and doing something different, but nothing too surprising that it feels unsettling; it's a very fine line."

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