When the world is insisting on shifting its gaze to your husband’s little bro and his wife as they air their laundry on Netflix, how do you make a statement that people will notice? In the face of grand revelations about the family firm, accusations and fraternal rifts, how to make a brief, subtle shout in the middle of it all, without too much fanfare?
Why, you change your hair of course, and that is why we like to think that Kate Middleton (K-Middy, HRH Catherine, the Princess of Wales or whatever you like to call her) has broken with all protocol in this recent snap. Think of Kate and you think spooling loose waves and an on-point South Kensington-style blow dry. Recently, it’s true, she’s favoured an occasional glossy and straight look. But this, this is different.
Kate’s hair stole the show at the Diplomatic Corps reception at Buckingham Palace
(Image: Getty)
For a recent event at Buckingham Palace, a Diplomatic Corps reception, she went for a gravity-defying bouffant 1960s style, with not a little hint of beehive-ness around the crown. (The crown of her head, that is; not the actual crown she’s wearing.) The style has drawn cries of wonder from inside the beauty industry, as we wonder what secret scaffolding is being used to keep it up.
True, we’re not that used to having to style our own hair with priceless tiaras, and maybe there are some extra skills that royal hairdressers choose not to impart, but the ’do is almost beyond the laws of physics. We would rather like a lesson in backcombing from Kate’s hair guru to find out what products and practices were required.
The Princess of Wales, right, wore a tiara previously worn by Princess Margaret, left
(Image: Getty)
It’s possible that there is some kind of piece or sponge giving all that extra volume, In fact, viewed in profile, it seems unlikely that there couldn’t be some secret support because the hair has so much volume in the lengths as well – coupled with the fact that crowns are heavy old things to wear on your head, and the enemy of natural volume.
The crown in question is the Lotus Tiara, a sparkly diamond- and pearl-encrusted piece that was previously worn by the late Queen Mother and then by her daughter Princess Margaret. Both ladies were loyal Firm members under some testing times, a stance Catherine would certainly like to follow. Margaret, of course, was also the queen-with-a-small-q of the beehive, so perhaps this whole look is a small statement of family loyalty.
Kate left the event (right) with a different hairstyle to the one she was pictured arriving with (left)
(Image: Getty)
We have another theory too, that the ‘do was in fact a slight wardrobe hair malfunction. In pictures of Kate arriving at the event she has her hair in a much more recognisable, tiara-ready updo. It’s not until she is seen leaving at the end that the princess has the long-and-straight-with-still-with-lift look. Was the volume the result slipping pins and a hasty visit to the powder room on the way in? We may never know.
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