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Kate Middleton’s royal fashion lookbook includes everything from camouflage to gowns and tiaras. However, according to an expert, there are a few colors she avoids. In turn, they become memorable on the rare occasion the Princess of Wales steps wearing them. Ahead, why Kate steers clear of orange, purple, and dark brown. Plus, some of her most “standout” looks featuring the shades.

Clothes from Kate’s ‘true summer palette’ make her ‘glow’

“She tends to avoid certain colors,” Francesca Cairns, a fashion stylist and image consultant, told Express. Why? “Not because they’re ‘wrong.’ But because she knows what really brings out her natural beauty.” 

“It’s all about dressing to complement her features, and that’s something we can all learn from her,” she said, noting that Kate typically wears shades of blue — a signature color in the Wales family — as well as pink and berry tones. 

As for Kate’s “season,” or what colors suit her best, Cairns dubbed the royal mother of three, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment, as a “summer.” 

“I know people really struggle to put Kate into a season because she does look amazing all the time—however, she is a summer,” the stylist said. 

“Kate looks better with colors that have a blue undertone rather than a yellow undertone,” she told the publication. “Anything from her true summer palette really makes her features glow.”

Kate in ‘standout shades’ of orange and purple

Cairns continued, saying because Kate doesn’t wear purple, orange, and dark brown much, when she does, they become “standout shades.” 

Orange, in particular, she noted, is a color Kate wears thoughtfully because it can “clash” with her natural coloring. However, she’s gotten the shade just right on a number of occasions through the years. 

Cairns recalled when Kate paired a bright orange blouse with a white blazer and pants to meet the Jamaican Prime Minister in 2022. She also called the coral-toned coat she wore in 2013 one of Kate’s “standout” orange looks. 

As for purple, the stylist shared that Kate has to pay extra attention to “intensity and undertones,” which can make or break a look. 

“While purple can be a striking choice, particularly for cooler undertones, the intensity and undertones of the color are crucial,” Cairns said. “Bright purples, leaning towards [sic] warmer tones or with too much intensity, risk overpowering Kate’s features, detracting from her natural elegance.” 

Kate’s aced wearing shades of purple before, with Cairns loving the bold pantsuit Kate sported for the Shaping Us National Symposium in November 2023. 

“Berry and burgundy” tones in the purple family are also shades Cairns “absolutely loves” to see Kate wear. (Kate’s outfit at a 2023 memorial service for the late Queen Elizabeth II is one of the stylist’s “standout” looks.) 

Kate Middleton and shades of dark brown 

Cairns continued, recalling a February 2023 public appearance of Kate’s. She wore a dark brown coat while visiting Cornwall, which the expert dubbed “too dark and too warm” for the now-42-year-old. Instead, Cairns shared that “taupe brown” is a better hue for Kate as opposed to dark brown. 

Then there’s December 2022, when Kate and Prince William traveled to Boston, Massachusetts. (The couple were there to attend the Earthshot Prize Awards.) 

For a visit to see the city’s changing shoreline on an especially cold day, Kate wore not one but two of her rarely worn shades. She combined a long, orange dress with a dark brown coat and coordinating accessories. 

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