Kate Middleton's Beauty Routine Has Totally Changed Over The Years

For Catherine, Princess of Wales, a beauty routine is a fluid thing that evolves with time. When she first became famous, back in the early 2000s as Prince William's as-yet unknown girlfriend, Catherine had a totally different look. Her hair was more casual and her makeup routine was completely different from what we see today. Even when she was a brand new royal, Catherine adhered to that London-girl eyeliner look of the 2010s, an unfortunate style of heavy, kohl liner along both her upper and lower lashes. The makeup routine was aging and harsh on the young royal, and she got a lot of flack for it. 

Over time, Catherine's found her groove. She opts for softer makeup now, with less sharp lines. While she still loves an intense smokey eye, it's blended, diffused, and more natural. Her hair is incredibly polished and styled compared to her early days. So it's obvious that Catherine has undergone a stunning style transformation over the years, and this includes her beauty regime. Over the decades, Catherine has stunned with some of her most iconic hair moments, and has even when opting for the odd moment of skipping her glam routine, Catherine still looks stunning without makeup. But there's no denying that her contemporary beauty routine is worlds away from what she used to do as a young royal. As she steps closer to becoming the future queen, Catherine's beauty regime has gotten more and more sophisticated. 

Before she became a royal, back when she was Kate Middleton, the young woman followed a much more casual beauty routine. Common in the early 2000s, Kate kept her eyebrows thin and arched, long before thicker, fuller brows came into fashion. In 2005, she attended the wedding of Hugh Van Cutsem and Rose Astor, giving a perfect example of how she dressed up in that early chapter of her life. 

Kate kept blush and foundation natural and almost undetectable. She skipped lipstick and gloss altogether, opting instead for natural, hydrated lips. One thing that's remained consistent is her love of eyeliner. Kate's always been someone who has loved an outline around her eyes, and at this event, she went for a black liner on both her upper and lower lash line. In these pre-royal days, it's clear that Kate didn't see herself as a public figure in the spotlight. Her routine wasn't as polished as it would quickly become once she became a global sensation. Her hair was flatter, lacking the signature curls she would later become a staple of her daily regimen.

In the early of days of royal life for Catherine, Princess of Wales, her beauty routine changed to fit into royal life. Suddenly, following her April 2011 wedding to Prince William, she was thrust upon the world's stage, and all eyes were on her. Understanding the attention that she was garnering, Catherine shifted her grooming habits in order to appear camera ready all the time. 

Catherine quickly became synonymous with a big, bouncy blowout; her hair was always curled, showing heavily styled, polished curls and neat, tidy hairstyles. She also got more serious about her makeup. She could not get enough of the black liner, and liberally rimmed her eyes in dark kohl. Saffron Hughes, a lash expert at False Eyelashes told Good To Know what Catherine was trying to achieve, noting that she was probably trying to make her eyes stand out. "However, applying heavy eyeliner like this can actually make your eyes look smaller while adding more shadow to the area and increasing the risk of smudging," Hughes explained. Once Catherine got her groove, she stopped wearing such dark makeup, and this was a win. "By ditching the heavy eyeliner, Kate has managed to maintain a beautiful, youthful appearance, allowing her to look just as good (maybe even better) now, than she did in 2010," Hughes noted. So Catherine evolved her beauty routine for the win. 

Catherine, Princess of Wales really changed her beauty routine during her pregnancies. The emphasis was on being as natural and chemical-free as possible, so Catherine ditched her weekly spray tans and instead, used the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Bronze, which has since been discontinued. "Kate is very cautious of products and treatments," an insider told Us Weekly in March 2015. "Baby's health comes first." As such, she stopped using chemical hair dyes during her pregnancies to minimize exposure to toxins. 

Catherine's entire beauty regime around her pregnancies became much more natural and wholistic. She used Trilogy's Rosehip Oil at night for a soft, nourishing moisturizer. "She loves the effect rosehip oil has on her skin," the insider told Us Weekly. She also used Bio-Oil on her body to treat stretch marks. While she still had to make public appearances, stepping out in heels and curled hair, Catherine definitely kept things more simple and subdued while she was expecting her children.

Something shifted for Catherine, Princess of Wales around 2021. It's tough to say exactly what it was that changed, but Catherine stepped up her glamor, and took her role as a royal even more seriously, respecting not only the responsibility of her duty, but providing a spectacle of glamor at the same time. When Catherine attended the James Bond premiere for "No Time to Die" in September 2021, the world stopped. Catherine emerged in a gold, Jenny Packham cape gown with her hair and makeup on a whole new level. The event set the tone for a new chapter of radiant skin, dramatic (false) lashes, and thick, full brows. Her eye makeup was heavy and dramatic, but was more skillfully blended and polished than her early years of opting for harshly drawn black eyeliner. 

Something similar took place at the Coronation of King Charles III in May 2023. Catherine was not holding back. She opted for a dramatic, full face of makeup, with a dark, smokey eye, lip color, and a robust level of contouring. "Kate looked picture-perfect at the King's Coronation! This is undeniably her most regal and dazzling look yet," makeup specialist Laura Kay told Express. Catherine had just become the Princess of Wales, and in climbing the royal ranks, she was embodying the power of regal presentation with her grooming. 

After joining the royal family in 2011, welcoming three children with her husband, Prince William, and becoming the Princess of Wales, Catherine is firmly established as an essential part of the British monarchy. This level of stability shows in her beauty regime. The princess has experimented along the way with different styles, but she's firmly settled on a flattering routine. 

Around 2025, following her cancer treatment, Catherine started stepping out in a reinvented version of her beauty routine. She was shamelessly wearing more eye makeup, opting for thick, accentuated eyebrows and rich, dark smokey eyes, even to daytime events. Some believe that Catherine is changing things up because she's looking forward at her future role. Beauty editor at Cosmetify, Maria Mukaranda, told Hello! that Catherine was undertaking a personal reinvention. "When we think of Kate, the words warm, graceful, and relatable spring to mind, traits that have very much carried through into her makeup style," Mukaranda explained. "However, they don't quite encompass the strength and power of the future Queen. A darker, smokier eye may be a sign that she's rebranding herself in the years leading up to her ascension to the throne." Her hair and makeup is at its peak of perfection, and this all has to do, Mukaranda suggests, with readying for her role as the future queen.