{"id":783763,"date":"2026-02-23T13:46:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/783763\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:46:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:46:23","slug":"kate-middleton-and-prince-williams-matching-baftas-look-showed-unity-and-stability-amid-royal-family-crisis-fashion-expert-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/783763\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate Middleton and Prince William’s matching BAFTAs look showed ‘unity’ and ‘stability’ amid royal family crisis, fashion expert says"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the British royal family going through one of the most critical moments in its history<\/a>, the surprise appearance of the Prince<\/a> and Princess of Wales<\/a> once again demonstrated their institutional weight.<\/p>\n

William and Kate made a high-profile appearance<\/a> at London’s Royal Festival Hall and managed to outshine some of the biggest film stars who walked the red carpet, such as Emma Stone, Kate Hudson, and Kirsten Dunst.<\/p>\n

Their perfectly coordinated outfits\u00a0<\/strong>conveyed unity, connection, and strength<\/strong> at a particularly delicate time for the royal family, according to Spanish designer Juan Avellaneda who spoke exclusively to HELLO!<\/strong>‘s sister publication HOLA!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kate’s decision to re-wear\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Princess reaffirmed her commitment to sustainability by bringing back a Gucci dress from seven years ago<\/a>, a romantic design in varying shades of dusty rose that stands out for its bateau neckline and bodice in micro-pleated fabric, as well as its contrasting belt, made of burgundy velvet that matched her husband’s jacket.<\/p>\n

\"Prince\u00a9 WireImageThe Princess chose to rewear her ethereal Gucci gown<\/p>\n

\"Kate\u00a9 Getty ImagesKate also wore the dress back in 2019<\/p>\n

“I loved both looks, because I love it when couples coordinate but don’t wear exactly the same thing. I like that they’re going to these awards and taking a few risks. Normally, he would wear a black tuxedo and she would wear a matching dress, but no. I think it’s much more whimsical this way,” Juan said.<\/p>\n

WATCH: William and Kate dazzle at the BAFTAs<\/p>\n

The message behind the Waleses’ coordinated look<\/p>\n

Members of the royal family are true experts at using fashion as a communication tool, paying tribute and sending messages without uttering a word, and this appearance of the Prince and Princess of Wales is a clear example of this, the designer says:<\/p>\n

\n

“It’s entirely an image strategy. The British royal family doesn’t do anything by chance, especially not on a red carpet like the BAFTAs. They use these kinds of appearances to convey unity, stability, and normalcy. The fact that they both wore burgundy is no coincidence. It’s a very subtle way of appearing visually aligned, both as a couple and as an institution.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

True to their essence, they wanted to stand out without straying too far from traditional dress codes, maintaining the timeless elegance and sophistication characteristic of British royalty: “They’ve played with a very\u00a0Old Hollywood\u00a0style, very powerful.\u00a0They’re not trying to be trendy, but rather to have a more eternal image. When you’re coordinated, everything looks much better, and I love that they’ve thought very well about how to do it without falling into the classic approach of wearing a dress with a matching bow tie, which is typical.”<\/p>\n

\"Prince\u00a9 Getty ImagesPrince William and Princess Kate coordinated their outfits to “convey unity, stability, and normalcy”
\nComplementing each other, not competing<\/p>\n

Despite their deep connection on every level, the key to William and Kate’s red-carpet presence is the same as that of any solid relationship: it’s not about dressing exactly alike or projecting the same energy, but about complementing each other naturally and harmoniously.<\/p>\n

As Juan explained, the couple “don’t compete with each other, but rather complement each other perfectly. He brings structure and sobriety, a more rigid approach, while she brings light and emotion. Even the materials, fabrics, and colours are perfectly coordinated.”<\/p>\n

\"The\u00a9 Andrew Parsons \/ Kensington PalaceKate is the royal family’s “greatest image asset”
\nKate conveys ‘calm and elegance’<\/p>\n

Despite trying to avoid that competition, it’s inevitable that Kate will stand out more in terms of style. Her looks always generate great anticipation, especially when it comes to a major event like a red carpet. Today, she is considered one of the most elegant royals in the world and, as Juan points out, one of the British royal family’s greatest assets.<\/p>\n

What does the designer think of this flowing dress? He considers it an absolute success: “I think her dress is spectacular; it’s not at all tacky, even though it’s incredibly ethereal. She’s a princess who plays with classic codes, reinvents them, and updates them.”<\/p>\n

\n

He added: “Right now, Kate is their greatest image asset. She conveys calm, elegance, and a sense of the future, and that’s precisely what the monarchy always needs to project, but even more so when there’s so much noise surrounding it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

William’s daring fashion take<\/p>\n

As for William, this isn’t the first time he’s opted for a look like this; in fact, he loves wearing velvet jackets in dark tones for his most special occasions, something that clearly shows he’s inherited his mother Princess Diana’s passion for fashion. “Burgundy looks fantastic on him. I love that a royal is daring enough to wear a colour other than black. He’s taken more of a risk than many actors,” Juan concludes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the British royal family going through one of the most critical moments in its history, the surprise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7708],"tags":[41462,2584,533,9317,532,5105,7710,519,448,9321],"class_list":["post-783763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-royals","tag-baftas","tag-fashion","tag-kate-middleton","tag-kate-middleton-style","tag-prince-william","tag-royal","tag-royal-families","tag-royal-family","tag-royals","tag-the-princess-of-wales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116120255572317150","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}