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The Princess of Wales in Catherine Walker & Philip Treacy for Trooping the Colour

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The Princess of Wales in Catherine Walker & Philip Treacy for Trooping the Colour

The Princess of Wales wore a soft blue Catherine Walker design for the King’s Birthday Parade today. 

Here you see the Wales family as they arrived at Buckingham Palace.

The event is also known as Trooping the Colour. Below, the King and Prince William. The King, Colonel-in-Chief of the Household Division, wore the uniform of the Grenadier Guards, the Regiment Trooping the Colour this year. 

Here is a Kensington Palace video showing everyone at the Palace as they gathered, those riding in the carriages loaded into them, and those riding in the parade mounted their horses. 

Prince William wore the Ceremonial Guard Order of the Welsh Guards with his Order of the Garter Sash. 

After gathering at the Palace, it was time to load into carriages for the ride to Horse Guards Parade.

The Prince of Wales on Darby (left), and the Duke of Edinburgh on Sir John (right). The Duke, Colonel of the Scots Guards, wears the Full Ceremonial Guard Order of the Scots Guards and his Thistle Star and Sash.

The Princess Royal rode Noble and wore the Full Mounted Ceremonial uniform of the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) with her Garter Sash and Thistle Star. She is Colonel of the The Blues and Royals. Darby, Sir John, and Noble were all gifts from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the late Queen Elizabeth II. 

The King and Queen in an Ascot Landau. 

The Princess of Wales and her three children in the second Ascot Landau. 

Prince George and Princess Charlotte. 

A wave to the crowd via Royal Central’s video shared online. 

The Duchess of Edinburgh and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. 

Another view of the Princess and Prince Louis. 

And a video of the Wales family as they exited their carriage at Horse Guards Parade, this one shared by The Sun’s Matt Wilkinson.

After arriving at Horse Guards Parade, the King, Queen, and Princess moved to the viewing stand.

A bit of history via this article in The Mirror. 

Back in the 17th century, battlefield communication was absolute chaos. Amid the smoke, noise, and confusion of war, a regiment’s custom flag – its “Colour” – was used as a visual rallying point. If a soldier got lost, they looked for the flag. To ensure every single man recognised his unit’s Colour, young officers would parade, or “troop,” the flag slowly down the ranks before a battle.

In 1748, King George II decided to combine this military tradition with his official birthday celebration. He was born in November, a month notorious for terrible British weather, so he simply moved his public birthday to June to ensure better conditions for a parade.

That quirk stuck, and today, Trooping the Colour serves as the official, public birthday celebration for the reigning British Sovereign, currently King Charles III.

Others watched the ceremony from the Major General’s Office.

Today’s parade included more than 1400 soldiers, 200 horses, and 400 military musicians.

A closer view of the King and the Princess. 

A news release notes additionally that “…the colours (flags) of the battalion were carried (or ‘trooped’) down the ranks to teach soldiers to recognise them. The honour of Trooping their Colour rotates through the five Regiments of Foot Guards, and this year it lies with 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.”

In this shot, you can see Princess Charlotte has joined her brother at the window.

Then everyone headed back to Buckingham Palace. 

A view of the carriages going up the Mall toward the Palace.

A quick video of the Duchess of Edinburgh and Sir Tim, as shared by Royal Central. 

A view of the Princess having a laugh during the carriage ride.  

And a brief video shows the Royal Family members as they come out on the iconic Buckingham Palace balcony. 

The King, Queen, and the Wales family. 

The Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke of Kent, and the Gloucesters. 

A Chinook helicopter approaches Buckingham Palace.

I love this shot by royal photographer extraordinaire Mark Stewart of the 90-year-old Duke managing his walking stick and his smartphone to capture the flyby.

In this view, you see the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh with Sir Tim and the Princess Royal. 

A look at the Red Arrows against the London skyline. 

Here you see Prince Louis leaning over to get a view of the incoming aircraft.  

And a few seconds later.

The Princess as she points something out to the children. 

Visit London shared a video of the Red Arrows zooming past the Palace. 

The Prince and Princess during the flypast. 

Christin shared the BBC’s video of the national anthem at the conclusion of this year’s Trooping the Colour ceremony. 

Apparently, Prince George tried to suppress a sneeze during much of the anthem, prompting a giggle from his mother.  A wave from the King and Queen after the anthem. 

Now for a look at what some of the royal women were wearing for today’s celebration. We begin with The Queen, who selected a red silk coatdress by Fiona Clare with a Philip Treacy beret. The coat dress takes inspiration from the Grenadier Guards’ uniform; the Queen is Colonel of the Regiment. I believe this was first worn for Trooping in 2023.

The Duchess of Edinburgh chose Roland Mouret’s Cady Midi Dress with a Jane Taylor hat.

The Duchess of Gloucester wore a navy polka-dot coat with a ruffled collar and cuffs, accessorized with a Jessica Turley hat. 

The Duchess wore this coat for Trooping in 2022. 

Kate Middleton Styled suggests Princess Charlotte wore a bespoke Alessandra Rich dress and shoes by Pretty Ballerinas. Royal British Fashion reports her hair bow is by Jane Taylor. 

The young Princess echoed her mother’s look today with a three-strand pearl bracelet. 

Prince George was in a navy blue suit with a light blue tie, and Prince Louis wore a double-breasted suit with a soft blue tie, the boys coordinating with their mother. Thank you to Ellie at Royal British Fashion for her ID information. 

Now for our look at what Kate wore, beginning with her Catherine Walker Lafayette Coatdress.

It is described this way on the Catherine Walker site: 

The silhouette is elongated and sculpted through the bodice, with sharp, structured shoulders and clean princess seams that contour the waist before falling into a graceful, fluid midi-length skirt.

A striking contrast trim frames the angular lapels and runs with architectural intent along the asymmetric front, accentuating the double-breasted fastening and fabric-covered buttons. The sleeves are sleek and refined, finished with subtle cuff detailing that mirrors the lapel edge.

Here is a closer look at some of the details, including the trim at the cuff, the peaked shoulder, and the self-covered buttons.

As pointed out by Write Royalty’s Patricia Treble and others, it is similar to a Catherine Walker coatdress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1987. 

Here is another view of the late Princess in the garment. 
Embed from Getty Images 

Thoughts on the look come via Caroline Leaper, The Telegraph’s Deputy Fashion Director. 

This year, she chose a new ice-blue Catherine Walker & Co “Lafayette” coat dress with graphic pointed lapels, trimmed in white binding. It is nearly identical to a coat, made by the same designer, which the late Princess Diana wore in 1987 as she attended an Easter service in Windsor, holding the hand of a young Prince William, who was also dressed to match her.

This full-circle fashion moment shows the Princess is completely attuned to royal dressing traditions while still managing to gently modernise the look. She matched her coat to a saucer-brim hat from Philip Treacy, the British milliner, and her earrings were not from the family vault, but rather from Cassandra Goad, the contemporary British fine-jeweller – a £7,245 pair of pearl-encrusted flower studs, which she previously wore at the christening of Prince Louis.

As an event to mark the monarch’s official birthday, this particular spectacle is designed to be celebratory and uplifting. The Princess of Wales and her young family showed again on Saturday that they are committed to honouring the past, whilst modernising the look of the monarchy.

The Princess accessorized with a custom version of a new Philip Treacy hat, the OC 315 from the milliner’s spring/summer 2025 collection. It showcases an oversized saucer brim in soft blue with blue sculptural trim on the left side and an ivory dome.

She brought back her white nappa leather Gianvito 105 Pumps ($850). 

She also repeated her Cassandra Goad Cavolfiore Earrings ($10,240) in 18K yellow gold, with pearl clusters accented by diamonds, so named for their cauliflower-inspired design. “Cavolfiore” is Italian for cauliflower. 

The Princess wore her Irish Guards regimental brooch; she has been the Guards’ Colonel since 2022. And she wore the Nigel Milne triple-strand bracelet, a sentimental choice as it originally belonged to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

I will leave you with one more photo of the Princess by Mark Stewart. 

Hopefully, I will be seeing you again on Monday, as that would mean the Princess attended the Order of the Garter events!

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Gill

Sunday 14th of June 2026

Very suitable for the occasion but I’m not keen on the very pale blue shade. Think I’d have preferred the other blue option or another colour altogether. As good as she looks in these sleek dress coats even I’m now thinking it’s time for a change of style. I thought she looked strained at times as well. I didn’t like Camilla’s outfit although it was a rewear which is always a good thing. Sophie looked nice although I don’t think short sleeves are correct for formal events. Bit of a miss all round for me I’m sorry to say. Looking forward to the coming weeks when I’m still hoping to see Kate rewear either the red Ascot dress or the polka dot one.

Christine Muehling

Sunday 14th of June 2026

I can honesty say that I loved everything about Catherine's look today. The color, style, and accessories were perfect. I especially liked the new hat. It seems Catherine has been leaning toward wider brims and I particularly like this one. The comparison to Diana's look was obviously intentional, I wonder if William likes that? The children's clothes were great, I loved Charlottes' dress! Overall, fantastic!

Ava Pittman

Sunday 14th of June 2026

The Princess looks lovely, but I don't like this outfit. She is wearing what appeals to her and that is all that matters, she looks well and happy, more importantly. I don't have a problem with the length of this dress, its fashionable. The coatdress to me at this stage now is just so repetitive. I would love to see her with a different style outfit for events such as this, for a change. I don't like white shoes. On this occasion these shoes look okay. Love her hat, gorgeous. The earrings are a no, I don't find these attractive at all, regardless they suit the Princess. Again her choice, what she likes, well done to her. Loved the triple strand pearl bracelet, this is a beautiful piece.

Imo, Sophie looked beautiful. From what I can see of her dress, she looked wonderful. Loved her hat. The diamond and pearl drop earrings, elegant, tasteful, classic earrings. Highly suited this ensemble. The diamond brooch was the perfect finishing touch, perfectly positioned. Its a subtle piece, but I find it very attractive. I read somewhere Sophie wore a diamond bracelet, I will have to search for a photo, glad she wore one.

Birgrite looked wonderful in Navy and white polka dots, the pearl necklace blended well with the white of the dots. I applaud her for wearing these beautiful brooches, stunning pieces, but not with this collar.

Queen Camilla's outfit, not a fan.

Maureen Brode

Saturday 13th of June 2026

I am a long time reader and particularly enjoy reading the views of individuals who comment often.

My husband and I are in London from Canada and yesterday were on the Mall to see the Royal family. I thought that Princess Catherine looked breathtakingly beautiful, the Wales children were well-behaved as usual and it was a treat to see Charlotte smile and wave to the crowds.

It was an impressive spectacle and the weather was perfect. As to the colour of her outfit, the blue was marvellous on the Princess.

Thanks again to everyone involved with this site.

Maureen

Margaret

Sunday 14th of June 2026

@Maureen Brode, How wonderful to be there to see such a special day in the royal calendar. It sounds from your comment that it was a very impressive event to witness. I thought Catherine looked marvellous and it's great to hear that she looked even more memorable in real life. Thank you for sending in your first hand account of the day.

Gayle

Saturday 13th of June 2026

Love Catherine's blue Catherine Walker coatdress, beautifully tailored, fits her perfectly. The Phillip Tracy hat looks great, always love Catherine wearing an up do. Pearl earrings and bracelet are finishing touches, well done. Camilla's look- "costumey". Sophie looks very elegant. William always looks great in the Grenadier Guard uniform.

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