Kate Middleton's Top Gun dress made fit for royal protocol with this special tweak

Kate Middleton’s Top Gun dress reportedly underwent a big change from its original design which made it more in-keeping with the styles favoured by royals. 

• The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wowed as they attended the Top Gun: Maverick premiere in London.
• For this huge occasion, Kate Middleton opted for a chic Roland Mouret gown and several fans have spotted a difference from the original design. 
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as we revealed Prince George, Charlotte and Louis’ adorable reaction to William and Kate’s big night out at the Top Gun premiere (opens in new tab).

As senior members of The Firm (opens in new tab), the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have attended a fair few star-studded events in their time and their latest red carpet appearance has wowed fans once again. Stepping out in London for the Top Gun: Maverick premiere on May 19th, the future King and Queen Consort (opens in new tab) opted to keep to a black-and-white theme with their outfits.

Whilst Prince William wore a velvet jacket with a matching bow tie and smart black trousers he added a touch of fun to his look with some aeroplane-decorated loafers.

Whilst Kate Middleton’s Top Gun dress was a Bardot-style black gown with a contrasting white band across her shoulders. She paired the gorgeous dress with a black clutch bag and diamond and white gold earrings which are believed to be by Robinson Pelham.

Fans dubbed Kate a “leading lady” (opens in new tab) for her look and the dress designed by Roland Mouret was certainly an eye-catching and elegant outfit choice. Though this particular dress supposedly didn’t always appear as it did on the Duchess at the premiere!

As has now been pointed out by fans online since the Duchess wowed us all, the original design appeared to have a very different back. One posted different shots of the iconic dress and it seems as though it once had mesh panels and a visible zip fastening.

The same picture appears on the Front Row website (opens in new tab) where this luxury style, named the Lamble Off-The-Shoulder Gown, is available for people to rent.

In contrast, pictures taken of the royal couple at the premiere show a completely opaque back to Kate Middleton’s Top Gun dress and a concealed fastening.

This suggests that the design was tweaked for the Duchess before she walked the red carpet for the premiere. It’s not known exactly why this might have been done, though royals are known for their more modest outfits and it could be that the mesh was simply not in-keeping with this.

It’s been said over the years that Her Majesty prefers skirts or dresses worn by royals to be either on the knee or just below it when out in public. Meanwhile, it’s understood to be protocol that they should always wear tights rather than having bare legs.

This modest approach especially for engagements or events could perhaps be the reason why the mesh panelling was changed for premiere appearance, to make it less revealing.

Either way, Duchess Kate looked magnificent in her dress and it showcased how comfortable she seems to be giving an outfit an extra regal twist.