Kate Middleton's Chic Wedding Guest Outfits Over The Years, Ranked

Kate Middleton has been a wedding guest of numerous couples lucky enough to have a royal attendee in their presence. And since many of these weddings were for fellow royals, they were well-documented, giving fans a chance to see Kate's sensational looks. There was the memorable wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle in May 2018, as well as Princess Eugenie's wedding to Jack Brooksbank in October 2018, where she and Prince William were featured guests. Even for a royal, though, there's still an expected level of wedding decorum. And no guest, no matter their royal ranking, should outshine the bride on her big day. For instance, this decorum forbids guests from wearing white, or any color that could pass as white; even Kate can't do that.

However, over the years, the Princess of Wales has made a few wedding fashion blunders as a guest. She's also had some home runs. A lot of the fascination with Kate's wedding outfits comes from the fact that her fashion is consistently being observed on a global scale. Kate's BAFTA gowns over the years deserved a ranking, as did her chic Wimbledon outfits. So to follow suit, we've curated a list of Kate's wedding guest looks, ranked from worst to best.

Arguably, one of the most controversial wedding guest outfits that Kate Middleton has ever worn was to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Kate wore a white Stella McCartney coat dress with a floral headpiece and cream heels. The outfit could certainly be counted among Kate's fashion mishaps that stunned royal fans.

Kate doesn't usually fail when it comes to her outfits, so the fact that headlines all over the world were asking about this white dress shows that opinions were mixed. Newsweek published a piece called "Fact Check: Did Kate Middleton Wear White to Meghan Markle's Wedding?" because so many people were asking. The truth is that Kate wore a pale, cream coat dress by Alexander McQueen that was actually a re-wear for the princess. She had already worn it to Princess Charlotte's christening and to the late Queen Elizabeth II's birthday. Royal commentator Elizabeth Holmes brushed off the faux pas as a generous gesture on Kate's part; she was wearing something people had seen before in order to keep the focus on Meghan. It was still a very pretty dress, and her fascinator was gorgeous. But the fact that Kate's dress was so close to white made it a distracting choice.

On June 4, 2005, before she married Prince William, Kate Middleton was a guest at the wedding of Hugh Van Cutsem Jr. and Rose Astor. For the occasion, Kate wore a black and white lace skirt that cut off at her knees with a cream blazer, topped with a black fascinator. While there was nothing truly wrong with this outfit in terms of color choice, the look clearly pre-dates Kate's absorption into the royal family, where she has access to the stylists and tailoring that make her contemporary looks so elegant. This 2005 outfit was very pretty, but didn't have that regal touch.

The blazer gave the outfit an office-siren vibe that would have been better suited to a meeting rather than a wedding. On top of that, pairing a black fascinator with a blazer and pencil skirt threw off the look. While it's certainly part of British custom for women to wear elaborate headpieces to weddings, fascinators are best paired with refined formal wear, like a tea-length dress. The idea is that a fascinator should complement an outfit rather than compete with it. While Kate's outfit was alright, there was a little conflict: Her fascinator aimed to elevate the look, but the blazer and skirt grounded it more casually.

While not nearly as controversial as the white dress that Kate Middleton wore to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, Kate wore another off-white coat dress to the royal wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall on July 30, 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Kate wore a cream and gold brocade coat dress by DAY Birger et Mikkelsen with a bold, floral fascinator by Gina Foster Millinery, and nude heels by LK Bennet. It was the same dress that Kate wore in 2006 to the wedding of Laura Parker Bowles and Harry Lopes.

While this look was obviously less white than the one that Kate wore to Harry and Meghan's wedding, it nonetheless stirred some conversation. As Vogue noted, anything close to white is unacceptable for a wedding. Kate's dress caused such a stir that Express reached out to style expert Susie Nelson to get her take. "I think the issue is that people perceive [colors] in various ways and fabric reflects light in different ways, so whilst some royal watchers were convinced that Kate's coat was cream, she actually wore pale gold to Zara's wedding," Nelson explained, defending her choice. So at the end of the day, Kate's gold coat dress and large, floral fascinator ended up being both an acceptable and very pretty choice for a July wedding.

Kate Middleton was a wedding guest for the nuptials of Lucy Meade and Charlie Budgett on March 29, 2014, in Chippenham, England. For the occasion, Kate wore a blue M Missoni tweed jacket that she had worn before in 2012, when she visited Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly, London, with the late Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla (then the Duchess of Cornwall). For the wedding, Kate paired the blue coat with a navy, floral dress by Whistles and styled it with black heels and a Lock & Co. "Fairy Tale" hat.

While the coat was perfectly appropriate in terms of color choice for a wedding, Kate's look earned the third-best spot on our list because it checked all the boxes, but lacked that extra jolt of joy and festivity that makes a wedding guest look pop. Since Princes William and Harry weren't in tuxedos, it's clear that the wedding didn't have a formal dress code, so it's not like Kate needed to be in a gown. Nonetheless, her blue outfit didn't dazzle quite as much as it could have. But all the same, she looked gorgeous and very appropriate for a March wedding. 

Kate Middleton absolutely rocked her look at the wedding of her sister, Pippa Middleton, to James Matthews on May 20, 2017, in Englefield, Berkshire. Kate wore a blush-toned midi dress from Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, the same designer who made her own wedding dress. The dress featured long sleeves and a peplum-style waist. She paired it with a tonal fascinator by milliner Jane Taylor, and morganite earrings by Kiki McDonough; the morganite gemstone has a signature pink saturation, making it a nice accompaniment to this overall look.

What made this outfit such a hit was that Kate embodied the perfect wedding guest look. Her styling was festive enough that even in her clothing, she was celebrating with her sister. But she didn't overdo it, allowing Pippa to shine on her big day. The color was also a gorgeous choice, as the soft, pastel pink was safely away from the white, bridal zone, and it was seasonally appropriate, making it a suitable choice for a May wedding.

The best wedding guest look that Kate Middleton wore was to the wedding of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank in October 2018 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. This sensational, raspberry-toned outfit was designed by Alexander McQueen, a nice nod to Kate's own wedding day and dress made by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. The dress featured a fitted waist, three-quarter length sleeves, and a pleated neckline.

Kate paired the dress with a tonal fascinator by milliner Philip Treacy in the same vibrant, berry red tone. She styled the look with a velvet, burgundy clutch and velvet heels by Prada. What made the outfit such a win was how it struck such a perfect balance; Kate looked festive and dressy, which is always a nice gesture as a wedding guest, since it shows respect for the gravitas of the big day. But the look didn't distract from Eugenie's white wedding gown whatsoever.

It can be tough to strike the right chord as a wedding guest. There's the obvious desire to dress up to celebrate the day and show respect for the couple, while being cautious about looking too glamorous, thereby running the risk of stealing the show. For Kate Middleton, walking this line is even harder. She'll inevitably draw a lot of attention no matter what the event is, because she's a global celebrity. And this is likely why some of her wedding guest looks were a little drab; she didn't want to steal the bride's spotlight.

To curate this list, we applied some specific guidelines that are mainstays of wedding guest decorum. Did Kate's outfit distract too much from the wedding couple? Did she wear white, or an off-white shade that would read as attention-grabbing from the bride's white dress? Did the outfit feel appropriate for the occasion? With those questions as our guide, we compiled her looks and ranked them from worst to best, celebrating those moments where she hit it out of the park and struck a balance of polished but discreet. It's a tough thing to do, and it's a testament to Kate's finesse that she's typically able to do it so well.