This was Kate’s first full year as Princess of Wales, carrying the same tortured title as the late mother-in-law she never met. Diana was a humanitarian icon, an iconoclast, the proverbial mouse who roared. Diana was also a fashion icon who went from prim English rose to big-shoulder Dynasty ‘80s through the cleaner, more minimalist ‘90s looks. Kate has tried cosplaying Diana, cosplaying QEII and cosplaying her sister-in-law, all to no avail. Kate simply doesn’t have her own style, her own look, and she spends hundreds of thousands of pounds every year trying to figure out what her style should be. Except this year, she ended up wearing tons of repeats, which caused some lowkey discussion about whether Kate’s husband cut her clothing budget now that it’s coming out of his Duchy of Cornwall pockets. All of which to say, Kate really did spend less money on clothes this year than she did in 2022.

The Princess of Wales saw the value of her wardrobe decrease during 2023, after showcasing an extravagant collection of garments worth £176,664 in 2022. Kate, 41, has worn new clothing and accessories totalling £159,040.28 over the past 12 months, including a host of ball gowns and glittering jewels for royal engagements.

It marks the royal’s second most expensive year to date, with a host of new outfits on show – beating 2017 when she wore £119,000 of new outfits.

The future Queen has also continued to recycle some of her old favourites, as well as donning pieces from affordable high street stores, such as Hobbs, Zara and LK Bennett.

As expected, she displayed her most expensive outfit while attending the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, opting for a bespoke Alexander McQueen dress and headpiece, made in collaboration with Jess Collett – estimated to be worth £3,000 and £32,000 respectively.

The King is understood to cover the costs of Kate’s closet for ‘work-related’ engagements through his official household budget, but it is not clear whether the Princess always pays full price for outfits or receives discounts.

In 2021, the royal slashed the sum of her new wardrobe, wearing just £48,845 worth of new clothing. This year’s total has also increased from 2020, when she wore £93,914 of new clothing, and 2019, when she wore £103,075 worth of clothing.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s funny that she spent that much because she didn’t go on any royal tours this year, and to many of the red-carpet events, she repeated evening gowns which were already in her closet. That coronation headpiece should not have cost £32,000 either – that’s insane. It was some Home Ec project made with a glue gun and glitter. It’s also an insane number considering how many times she just wore pantsuits or somewhat casual clothes. Hm. Also: I don’t think Charles pays for her clothes anymore? William should be paying for her stuff from the Duchy of Cornwall funds, just as Charles did when he was PoW.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.