BAFTAs 2023: Princess of Wales wears opera gloves and Zara earrings for high-low styling

Alexander McQueen gown? Check. High street earrings? Check. Kate gave a masterclass in red carpet accessorising
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Maddy Mussen20 February 2023

There’s red carpet royalty and then there’s actual royalty, and last night the Princess of Wales proved she’s both.

Turning up on the BAFTA 2023 red carpet with Prince William, the Princess of Wales served her sleekest look yet in an asymmetrical white gown by Alexander McQueen. And it was a rewear. The princess previously sported the same gown to the BAFTAs in 2019 — though it’s been upcycled since to remove the original floral detailing and to add a longer, draped sleeve.

Kate wore the same McQueen gown in 2019
PA

The highlight, though, was in her choice of accessories. Kate is a loyal glove-wearer (see: literally any public appearance she does in autumn/winter) and can usually be seen in a pair of leather gloves, but this time she opted for a long, almost-entire-arm length black opera glove, a black clutch, gold heels and huge gold drop earrings.

Princess of Wales
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Where are the earrings from, you ask? Schiaparelli? Chopard? Cartier? None of the above — they’re actually Zara, and cost £17.99. Fans of Kate will already know she takes great care with her earring game, and it doesn’t always involve high end jewels. In fact, if you spot her rocking a nice pair of studs at any event, chances are they’re either high street or inherited from the Royal Family.

The Prince and Princess of Wales at the BAFTAs in 2020
PA

William, for his part, went full James Bond in a classic black velvet tuxedo designed by Tom Ford. Kate was clearly digging it, too, because she was caught giving William a little loving slap on the butt as they proceeded down the red carpet. Some are calling it a “rare miss” from the usually perfectly poised royal couple, but I’m pretty sure she was perfectly on target — and it was actually pretty cute, too.

The Princess of Wales’ first BAFTA appearance in 2017
PA

Kate and William later met some of the award winners, including Austin Butler, Emma Mackey and Alison Hammond (I’d pay to hear how that interaction went).

While the royal couple are usually keen BAFTA attendees, this year marks the first time they have attended the event since 2020 (when Kate also wore Alexander McQueen).

The Princess of Wales at the BAFTAs 2018
PA

William has been the president of BAFTA since 2010, and Kate first attended in 2017, wearing, you guessed it... Alexander McQueen. In fact, the only time she hasn’t worn McQueen is in 2018, when the then-pregnant Duchess of Cambridge turned up in a moss green Jenny Packham gown.

We stan a loyal (future) queen.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in