Kate Middleton wants public to focus on her work instead of outfits as she returns as frontline royal

The Princess of Wales wants the world to focus on her campaign work and not her wardrobe as she gradually returns as a frontline royal.

In a move signalling her wish to be less about her fashion choices and more about her campaigning, Kensington Palace will no longer release details of her outfit during events.

A palace source said that change came with an “absolute feeling” that the public work was not about what the princess was wearing, accordingThe Sunday Times.

They said: “She wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting.”

While they acknowledged “there will always be an appreciation of what the princess is wearing”, the palace insisted its new attitude to Kate’s duties with the statement: “The style is there but it’s about the substance.”

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While the move is hailed in some corners as a sign of serious intent, up-and-coming fashion designers may lament the shift having benefitted from the princess’s patronage in recent years.

Kate, 43, has topped numerous “best dressed” lists over the years and her influence on the British fashion industry has been dubbed “the Kate Effect”, with items worn by the royal often selling out quickly.

When she wore a floor-sweeping polka dot dress from Alessandra Rich for the official portrait of then-Prince Charles’s 70th birthday, it sold out in minutes.

The princess has long championed young designers and British brands, such as Alexander McQueen, Jenny Packham and Catherine Walker.

This changing attitude to Kate’s fashion is part of a shifting approach as she returns to work following her cancer diagnosis. She revealed in September that she had completed her course of preventative chemotherapy.

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Speaking in a video message, she said her cancer journey had given her a “new perspective on everything” as she reflected on the “simple yet important things in life”.

She said: "Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes. I am however looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can."

Days later, she returned to the frontline with a primate meeting at Windsor Castle for her continued patronage of the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

More recently, the Royal Foundation Centre launched a new initiative to focus on developing people’s social and emotional skills for better mental health, to counter addiction and abuse.

Kensington Palace announced last January that the Princess had undergone abdominal surgery at the London Clinic and William would temporarily step back from royal duties to care for his wife and their three children.

Kate was then subject to scrutiny after a photograph released on Mother’s Day to thank the public for their “continued support” was accused of being digitally altered.

The photo particularly attracted attention as the Princess hadn’t been seen in public since Christmas Day 2023 and news agencies pulled it following claims it had been digitally altered.

The princess would then publicly apologise for any “confusion” around the photograph as she admitted she “occasionally experiments with editing” photos.

Later that month, she confirmed she had been diagnosed with cancer in a video message and was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.

She said: “It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful”.