She’s dressed in red.
Kate Middleton looked stunning in an electric blue coat dress for Easter Sunday services at Windsor Castle yesterday, but one small detail caught the attention of royal fans.
The Princess of Wales, 41, stunned the public by wearing bright red nail polish on her fingers for the first time since marrying Prince William in 2011.
“There have never been any strict rules on nail polish,” etiquette expert William Hanson said. “But it was known that Queen Elizabeth — like many of her generation — did not like colored nail polish.”
“With Easter Sunday being a celebratory day, it’s not surprising that we saw a flash of modest color adorning the Princess of Wales’ nails,” says Hanson, executive director of the etiquette and protocol institute The English Manner.
While the late Queen Elizabeth II was a fan of Essie’s pale pink Ballet Slippers ($10), other royal women such as Princess Eugenie and the Duchess of Edinburgh have previously worn brightly colored nail varnish.
While Middleton has worn red toe polish on several occasions, she has never worn dark colors on her hands, instead opting for a clear or nude manicure, or, in some cases, no polish at all.
The majority of fans appeared to enjoy the change.
“My good sis Kate said: ISSA RED NAIL POLISH KINDA DAY, and she was off!” “Lovely,” one fan wrote on the Royal Fashion Police Instagram page.
“The QEII era is over!” said another royal watcher. Red toes! Maybe Kate will raise her hemlines now.”
After Meghan Markle was chastised for wearing dark nail polish to the 2018 British Fashion Awards, some people pointed out the hypocrisy in the situation.
“Meghan was slaughtered for ‘breaking protocol’ simply for wearing non-pink nail polish,” one Twitter user wrote. “Now that Kate Middleton is wearing red nail polish, will we be told how bold and daring she is?”
It’s unclear what prompted the princess to be so daring, but we’ll see if the trend continues as the weather warms.
