Queen Kate, all the fashion in Paolo Roversi’s shots for the 40th anniversary of the Duchess

Enter the National Portrait Gallery in Alexander McQueen. Kate must not have thought much about the brand to wear for the three portraits that consign her to history made, as if they were paintings, by the fashion photographer Paolo Roversi. The Duchess of Cambridge turns 40 and gives herself three shots that contain hints of the past and hopes for the future not only of the birthday girl but also of the British monarchy that needs to renew itself to (r) exist.

The young Middleton graduated in art history atUniversity of St. Andrews, the university theater of the meeting with the eldest son of Charles and Diana and for this heir to the throne, with a thesis on photographic representations of childhood created by Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland. Therefore, the importance of photography in history does not escape her.
Godmother of the National Portrait Gallery, he knows perfectly well that in that museum he arrives after the Queen Victoria, the princesses Margaret and Diana, the queen mother and his daughter Elizabeth II. And he must have told this to Roversi, making it his own on the one hand Cecil Beaton, the photographer of the British royal family officially appointed in 1937, and on the other his own Mario Testino, the creator of the famous shots of Diana still very popular today.

Paolo Roversi is a fashion photographer who had his consecration in 1980 by signing the Christian Dior advertising campaign. Over the years he has lent his eye to numerous covers including those of Vogue and a maison like Saint Laurent, Valentino e Giorgio Armani and most recently he was involved in the debut of Zara Workshop, the luxury line of the Spanish giant.

Once the photographer was found, someone was needed who wisely dressed all the intentions of the Duchess. A name that could take the place in terms of allure, prestige but also loyalty of Norman Hartnell, the couturier who dressed the women of the royal family in the golden years of the monarchy in the middle of the last century (his the dress Elizabeth wore for the coronation, just to give one of a thousand examples).

This is why it has always existed Sarah Burton, creative director from Alexander McQueen, the one Kate relies on for every immortal appointment like that of April 29, 2011, the day she married her William at Westminster Abbey. The outfits chosen are three reinterpretations in a royal key of as many models from the latest collections of the fashion house.

There is the red one-shoulder dress with the “petal” sleeve of the fall / winter 2021 collection call Anemoni. “It seems that now is the time to heal, to breathe new life, to explore the echoes of the past to enrich our future” writes Sarah Burton, telling of her inspiration intent on creating something meaningful “anemones are the most ephemeral flowers, here made permanent in cloth. Women who wear anemone clothes become almost like flowers, like their incarnation, their character but amplified, rooted, radiant and strong ». The author of the campaign, Paolo Roversi himself, who with the work commissioned for Kate’s fortieth birthday adds a very important item to his curriculum.

This is the most “informal” shot, the most “one of us” where the new 40-year-old flashes a nice reassuring smile while keeping her hands in her pockets. Gods hang from his ears antique diamond earrings from Queen Elizabeth’s casket, now in Kate’s since 2016. The jewels have been spotted at Trooping the Colour del 2017, al Eugenie’s wedding in 2018 It is in the 2020 train tour.

For the “Diana” shot, the black and white Duchess put on another one-shoulder dress, a design loved by her late mother-in-law, full of beehives and romance of resort collection 2022 also by Alexander McQueen. The inspiration this time is the feeling of William Blake, one of the most beloved poet, writer and artist in the UK.

The earrings, although partially covered by the hair, are those made famous by the Princess of Wales in her official portraits. That pearl that just didn’t want to go unnoticed among Kate’s wavy locks, is part of the pair of earrings that Collingwood jewelry donated to Diana for her wedding with Carlo. He has worn them all his life: among the most famous combinations the one withElvis dress, that dress covered with thousands of pearls made by Catherine Walker.

Collingwood earrings return in the most regal portrait of all. The one in which Catherine looks towards the horizon in a pose that can also recall those assumed by the queen from Victoria. Ethereal like the cloud that surrounds it, it seems to hide its hand in an act of modesty in the tail of the long organza bow, that of the left shoulder, thus putting a spotlight on the well-known engagement sapphire that belonged to Diana.

This time the dress comes from ready to wear spring-summer 2022 collection that the very idea of ​​the skies of London wants to recall, as the creative team of Alexander McQueen sees them from the window of their headquarters. To understand more of this shot in which Kate looks like a divine creature, we can again rely on the words Sarah Burton used to describe how these dresses were born.

«I like the idea that Alexander McQueen’s woman is a storm chaser»He explained« it’s not just about the beauty of the views but also a sense of mystery and excitement, embracing the fact that we can never be sure what might happen next. Giving up control and being directly in touch with the unpredictable means being part of nature, see and hear it in its maximum intensity: to be one with a world that is bigger and more powerful than us».

A world that Kate seems to dominate very well both when she penetrates Roversi’s lens and when she is portrayed in profile with an eye to the future that is already here, always and in any case without any tiara on her head. Having reached the milestone of 40 years in a practically mirrored way also on the front of the wardrobe always adequate to her role, the Duchess is waiting her turn and does it with the confidence of those who already know that she is half done if not even a step further on. Catherine doesn’t have to wear a crown to be a queen because she knows she will be. She has finally gotten to that point where she no longer has to prove anything to anyone.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

– Kate Middleton, 40 years old in 40 looks like a true queen (also) of the wardrobe
– Top 10: the most regal looks of Duchess Catherine (who turns 40)
– Kate Middleton: all the times she has chosen Alexander McQueen