Why Kate Middleton wears red outfits at significant royal events

(Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images and Neil Mockford/GC Images/Future)

published 2 October 2022

Now the royal's official mourning period has come to an end, Kate Middleton has wasted no time getting back into her strikingly colourful wardrobe, but there is more thought behind the Princess's outfits than you may first think.

Earlier this week, Kate Middleton stunned the crowd in Wales as she stepped out in a bright red coat, leading many to reflect on the many other beautifully red outfits she is regularly spotted wearing
The conversation has lead a colour psychologist to weigh in, sharing why Kate Middleton chooses to wear red to her most significant engagements - and it's not just because she looks fabulous in the shade
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The striking black attire worn by Kate Middleton during the royal period of mourning has been put back into the wardrobe and the Princess can return to her usual style of colour-laden outfits.

The royal stepped out in bright red when she visited Wales on Tuesday the 27th of September, taking the crowd's breath away as her impactful colour choice drew everyone's eyes towards her.

The colour is clearly one of Kate's favourites. Whether it is a bright statement coat, muted mauve heels or a striking monochrome outfit, she is often pictured in the colour and always looks stunning. But why does Kate choose red and how does it consistently have such a big impact?

According to Colour Psychologist and Director of Interior Design at Lick, Tash Bradley, "The royals are so carefully selective about what they wear." She explained to Hello! that while Kate has often evoked nostalgic feelings from crowds through her Princess Diana-esque looks, her choice of red is more about her commanding attention on herself, not on anyone else.

She said, "If a royal is wearing red they are commanding attention, straight away. If I saw a royal in a red outfit, they're wanting to stand out amongst the other royals."

Going on to explain the science behind the eye-catching colour, Bradley revealed, "The colour red is the shortest wavelength to hit our eye so it's the first colour that we notice in the colour spectrum. Red is a stimulating colour, it affects the body and you physically are stimulated by the colour red."

Bradley encourages everyone to use the same tactic as Kate in order to draw attention to yourself. She said, "At a party, if you had someone in a red dress and someone in a black dress your eye will be straightaway caught – it doesn't matter who they are – to that dress."

During her recent engagement in Swansea, there is no doubt that her red coat also had a symbolic factor in nodding to the red dragon of the Welsh flag.

While Kate does have a clear affection for the bold colour, she does not wear it 24/7 and for good reason. Bradley explains, "It all depends on the event they're going to. If they were going to launch a new children's hospital and they wore red, it would be a really weird move."

It is not always the royals intention to stand out, sometimes they appear at events to show support but do not wish to draw away too much attention from someone else or from a specific cause. Bradley shares that the royals seem to understand that if they wear red, "they will stand out as [it is] the colour that you notice first within a room."

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Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.