Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge wearing Alexander McQueen

You can fairly assume that someone has a strong affinity with a brand if they wear its designs to the majority of their life milestones – as is the case with the Duchess of Cambridge and British fashion house Alexander McQueen. The duchess has chosen the label for all three of her children’s christenings, several of her royal relatives’ weddings and, most notably, her own in which she wore in a beautiful bespoke gown designed by the house’s creative director, Sarah Burton. And now, she has even worn the brand for her milestone 40th birthday portraits.

The royal-to-be first became a fan of the 1992-founded label after attending the wedding of the Duke of Cambridge’s step-brother Tom Parker Bowles in 2005. The bride, Sara Buys, wore a modern silk strapless fishtail gown with a tulle underlay designed by McQueen – still under the creative direction of its founder Lee McQueen at the time – and so set Kate’s eyes on the label for her own future wedding day.

Flash-forward seven years and the royal’s collaboration with the brand on her wedding dress had become one of the best-kept secrets in fashion. Their hushed union was continually denied by the house of McQueen to the press, up until the very moment Kate stepped out of her 1978 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI at Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011.

The duchess’ wedding dress has become one of the most iconic (and copied) of all time

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The irreverent, radical label – synonymous with controversy, and more recently, tragedy, after the suicide of its founder in 2010 – was a highly unexpected choice for Kate, known for her demure and safe style. Despite this seeming aesthetic conflict, magic was made. The exquisite gown – featuring V-neck décolleté, long delicate lace sleeves and a nine-foot train – stayed true to the royal’s classic style yet still won glowing reviews from critics around the globe.

Sales for the McQueen rocketed by 29 per cent after the historic moment and the dress quickly became one of the most iconic – and copied – wedding dresses of all time. And so commenced a decade-long relationship between the duchess and the brand, which has since seen the royal regularly step out in the McQueen dresses and coats for royal engagements.

The duchess gave a nod to the Canadian flag while arriving in the country for a royal tour

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In years since, the duchess has called on the services of Burton countless times for her royal overseas tour wardrobes, taking a slice of British fashion with her wherever she goes. Notable looks include a red and white scallop-edged dress, worn as a nod to the Canadian flag during a tour of the country in 2016; an orange printed dress worn for the royals’ tour of India the same year; and a pale pink, floor-sweeping, embellished gown worn over her baby bump for a dinner at the Royal Palace in Oslo in 2018.

In fact, the royal has commissioned Burton for several of her pregnancy looks, once aptly choosing a pale pink, pea-collared dress coat to Trooping the Colour when she was expecting her first girl, Princess Charlotte, and later impressing in a cream bouclé shift for a engagement in Sweden while pregnant with Prince Louis.

The duchess wearing a pale pink McQueen look over her bump for Trooping the Colour in 2013

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Burton’s designs have also become the duchess’s failsafe go-to for several of her most prominent family occasions, including all of her children’s christenings – with the royal wearing similar cream iterations for all three – and her sister Pippa Middleton’s wedding in 2017, where she opted for blush pink satin McQueen while taking on bridesmaid duties.

Followers of the duchess will know the royal has a penchant for rewearing many of her favourite McQueen looks – notably, Kate has deployed a green-and-blue tartan look a total of three times between 2012 and 2019, while the cream look worn to Princess Charlotte’s christening was recycled for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018.

The duchess likes to opt for more daring McQueen looks for evening events

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While the duchess favours more demure McQueen looks in muted colours for daytime occasions, she uses evening events to push the envelope with more daring designs by the label. For the 2011 Sun Military Awards, the royal channelled Hollywood and eschewed royal protocol in a decadent black velvet strapless gown, while for the 2017 BAFTA Awards, she looked stunning once again in a black off-the-shoulder gown with gold embellishments. Two years later for the same award ceremony, Kate chose a sweeping one-shouldered white gown with floral detailing.

On one of her most recent outings in the label, in February 2020, Kate appeared to pay homage to the late designer, Lee McQueen, on the 10-year anniversary of his death by stepping out in a full look – comprised of a navy military jacket, skirt and bag – from the label for a visit to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre.

The duchess paid homage to Lee McQueen on the anniversary of his death in February 2020

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And, in celebration of her milestone 40th birthday, the duchess chose to wear Alexander McQueen for all three of her portraits. Taken by celebrated Italian fashion photographer Paolo Roversi at Kew, the royal botanical gardens in Richmond, the images show Kate wearing three custom-made pieces by the house; a red one-sleeved dress with a flared skirt, a romantic off-the-shoulder tulle gown with bow-accented shoulders, and a white chiffon dress with a ruffled bodice and statement shoulder. Discover more about the images here.

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