Why Princess Kate Chooses to Wear Red So Often

Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales reacts as she is presented with a posy of flowers by four-year-old Theo Crompton during a visit to the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) Holyhead Lifeboat Station in Anglesey, north west Wales on September 27, 2022.

(Image credit: Photo by Paul Ellis / Getty)

published 3 October 2022

We rarely associate Catherine, the Princess of Wales, with showiness, but one of her sartorial habits is actually designed to turn heads, an expert has said.

The royal often opts for a bright red statement piece such as a coat or dress during official engagements, which helps people see her amidst a crowd (FYI, the Queen used the same strategy during her reign).

For example, she opted for a red coat during hers and Prince William's recent visit to Wales.

"The royals are so carefully selective about what they wear," color psychologist Tash Bradley told Hello!. "If a royal is wearing red they are commanding attention, straight away."

Bradley added, "If I saw a royal in a red outfit, they're wanting to stand out amongst the other royals."

Explaining why Princess Kate shines so bright when she's wearing red, the expert continued, "At a party, if you had someone in a red dress and someone in a black dress your eye will be straightaway caught—it doesn't matter who they are—to that dress."

In the case of the Wales trip, it's also worth mentioning that red is one of the official Welsh colors, making it a doubly good choice.

Princess Kate often pays tribute to the place she's visiting by wearing one of the colors from the local flag: Notably, she wore green in Jamaica, aquamarine in the Bahamas, and blue with hints of red in Belize during the royal Caribbean tour earlier this year.

As for her red outfits, she opted for the bold color to host her carol concert last Christmas:

And more recently during the Queen's Jubilee celebrations in June:

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.