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Royal fashion fans took to social media at the weekend to highlight the similarities between a blue one-shouldered gown debuted by Kate Middleton during the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest, and one worn by Meghan Markle at the NAACP Image Awards last year.
Kate made a surprise cameo during the opening musical segment of the Eurovision grand final on Saturday, which was held in the English city of Liverpool on behalf of the 2022 winners, Ukraine.
In a pre-recorded musical tribute to the country that was unable to host the event owing to the ongoing war with Russia, Kate played a piano interlude taken from Ukraine's winning song from the crimson drawing room of Windsor Castle.
For her appearance, the princess was dressed in an elegant blue chiffon evening gown asymmetrically draped in the Grecian style over one shoulder. The dress was designed by one of Kate's favorite fashion creators, Jenny Packham, and is from her ready-to-wear collection and named "Marlowe," priced at $3,820.
Kate styled the dress with silver shoes and a pair of heirloom diamond and sapphire earrings, formerly belonging to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Her hair was glamorously draped across one shoulder.
As fans praised the princess' piano playing skills—which she first debuted in public during a Westminster Abbey Christmas concert in 2021—a number highlighted the similarities between her chosen look and one worn by sister-in-law Meghan Markle last year.
For the NAACP Image Awards in February 2022, Meghan accepted the President's Award, alongside Prince Harry, wearing a long diaphanous blue evening gown draped across one shoulder with an ombre demi-train falling from the shoulder.
The dress was designed by Christopher John Rogers, a favorite of Michelle Obama and Adele, and was given a profile by American Vogue.
Meghan styled the iconic dress simply, with her hair draped across one shoulder in "Hollywood" waves.
The similarities between the two royals' dresses and styling was picked up by fans, who amid the well-reported strained relationship between the sisters-in-law, let the strength of their feelings be known on social media. Many accused Kate of copying Meghan.
"So when will Kate stop copying Meghan? She copied Diana through out 10 years of her marriage and now she has started with Meghan? This is absolutely madness," wrote one Twitter user.
"Kate copied Meghan's entire look!," wrote another, with a further comment reading: "Kate even copied Meghan's hairstyle."
In a tweet viewed over 800,000 times, another user questioned the protocol around one-shouldered dresses, writing: "I thought royal insiders and palace sources said it was filthy and classless for royalty to wear off-the-shoulder dresses like the one Meghan the Duchess of Sussex wore to the @NAACP Awards. I guess it is only against protocol when the Black duchess does it & not Kate Middleton."
However, there is no set protocol for royal dresses and many royals have worn one-shoulder designs in the past. Queen Elizabeth II wore one-shoulder or strapless dresses throughout the 1950s, Princess Diana wore a number of similar designs in the 1980s and 1990s, and Kate and Meghan have both worn one-shoulder dresses previously.
The Jenny Packham one-shouldered look worn by Kate on Saturday night is also similar to an Alexander McQueen asymmetric design she wore to the BAFTA Awards in February. This was itself a re-wear from 2019 and she owns a number of similarly silhouetted dresses.
Comparisons between Meghan and Kate have been increasingly made since Meghan joined the royal family in 2018, and these became more polarized in tone as reports emerged that the two princesses didn't enjoy a warm relationship.
This was highlighted in 2021, when Meghan confirmed to Oprah Winfrey that the pair had fallen out in a dispute over the bridesmaids' dresses before the royal wedding, but that Kate had apologized.
Meghan also told Winfrey that she didn't approve of pitting one royal against the other, and made it clear to fans that: "If you love me, you don't have to hate her. And if you love her, you don't need to hate me."
On her part, Kate has rarely spoken about Meghan in public and hasn't addressed their relationship in the fallout of Meghan and Harry's decision to leave the monarchy and move to the U.S. in 2020.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more