Kate has been recognized as the world’s most stylish woman on multiple occasions (like this), handily earning the title of most fashionable Royal out there. But what about other “well-known” Princesses? Kate’s new to the scene so there must have been a previous winner of the title, right? While I have been looking at pictures of Princesses for years, it was only when I looked specifically their specific styles that I noticed something interesting: they all have their own things going on while managing to always look regal, elegant and put together. How do they do it?
Letizia, Princess of the Asturias is the reigning style queen in Spain and as the wife of Crown Prince Felipe, she will one day be the actual Queen as well. Letizia- like all Princesses- has a very classic, conservative and elegant style but she really steps it up and adds her personality in the details, such as wearing fuchsia pants rather than the expected cream (above) or having ankle length pants on her suit rather than the expected floor length. One of my favorite examples of this is, as you can see above, her pairing of Princess wardrobe staple pencil skirt and cream cardigan- but she goes from boring to regal by wearing it in an unexpected snakeskin printed leather.
Take a tip from Letizia and look for classic fitting pieces (pencil skirts, pants, cardigans, etc) and wear them with a twist, such as a bright color or pattern.
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway is one of my favorite Princess “stories”. If you’ve not read the whole thing, please do– but long story short she was a single unwed mother when she met and married Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. She won over the people of Norway and has slowly been winning over fashion hearts as well as she teams up with her favorite designer, Valentino, quite often. Mette-Marit is typically seen either in plain solid neutrals or wearing a brighter color as you can see above. With her pale complexion and beautiful blonde hair she tends to favour pastel colors and it works well for her.
Take a tip from Mette-Marit and embrace who you are and have fun with fashion. It takes a lot of courage to wear a ruffled skirt dress in a bubblegum shade of pink but it works on Mette-Marit because of her coloring and personality whereas it would look childish and silly on someone else
Princess Maxima of the Netherlands is the only lady on this list originally from Latin America and she definitely brings some of that renowned latin flare to her role as Princess. Like Letizia, she likes to add unique touches to the usual Princess wardrobe, but she really takes it to a whole other level with things like a purple fur jacket, large feathered headpiece and brocade jackets. Maxima had a career as an Investment Banker before marrying into the Royal Family and obviously had time to develop her style and personal flair before she became Princess.
Take a tip from Maxima and, if you’re comfortable, wear your flair with pride! Maxima is the most out of the box Princess from a fashion perspective that there is in Europe and she’s grown into the hearts of fashion-lovers everywhere by taking a risk. Wear it, and flaunt it!
Queen Rania of Jordan, the only true “Queen” on our list. Although a Queen Consort (meaning she’s married to the ruler, not the one with the hereditary power) she is truly inspiring for all of the work she does for humanitarian causes. Her style seems to reflect two different things than the other Princesses that we have looked at thus far: the recognition that she lives in an Islamic part of the world and her dedication to humanitarian causes. She always dresses very conservatively and in muted colors.
Take a tip from Rania and dress according to your lifestyle and audience. If she were to wear bright bold colors while working with impoverished regions of the world , it might look overpowering and like she was trying to overshadow the cause.
Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece is the only one of these Princesses whose country does not actually recognize her Royal Title although it is recognized in Royal Court. An American by birth who has been internationalized (educated in Hong Kong, boarded in Switzerland, school in Paris…) Marie-Chantal is the rare blend of being a Princess but not having the responsibilities that the other ladies on this list do. As such, she has has the luxury of wearing leopard print boots and bright scarves when hanging around in New York City but then also can join the ranks of full on Princess at Royal Events, where she typically has been seen in nudes or blues, both great colors on her.
Take a tip from Marie-Chantal and embrace your day-to-day life in whatever form that takes on. If it’s schlepping across town to pick up the kids on a rainy day, wear your rain boots! If it’s attending a royal wedding, put on your fancy dress!
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden also holds a special spot in this list- she’s the only woman here who will become Queen Regnant of her country. I love her official portrait (2nd from left)! After having struggled with anorexia as a teenager, it is nice to see that she has come to love her body and her style seems to reflect that. By virtue of her position, it’s not surprising that she tends to be more conservative in her choices and yet in recent years she’s been more body flattering as shown by the picture on far right and also at Prince William and Kate’s wedding in a coral figure hugging dress.
Take a tip from Victoria and learn to love yourself. You can’t possibly wear clothes confidently if you don’t love what’s underneath.
Princess Mary of Denmark is the last Princess we’ll look at today but from a fashion perspective definitely not the least. She’s been on the Vanity Fair Best Dressed list for years and has even been compared to Princess Diana. She again wears muted colors quite often but one of my favorite pictures of Mary is the one above in the centre- the red dress, blue sash, diamonds… Love it. Mary tends to really favour dresses for her public appearances which I like- very ladylike and elegant.
Take a tip from Mary and don’t be afraid to put on a dress! Many ladies nowadays are tending to wear less and less dresses with the comfort of jeans- but there is something so ladylike about a dress.
Interesting things we found while researching this article:
- Article about Reading the Faces of Future Queens: Chinese Feng Shui experts looked at the face shape and expressions of the Princesses who will one day be Queens and have “read” them to tell us more about them. As an example of what kinds of things they can “read”, they say they knew Diana would never wear a Crown because of her nose
- Secrets of the Most Stylish Women article at Harper’s Bazaar is proclaiming one of the new secrets is not wearing black! Is this revolutionary?
- Touching article by Simon Doonan about why Queen Elizabeth is the most fashionable women in the world.
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