Hidden Message Unveiled: Decoding Kate Middleton’s Latest Ensemble

The Princess of Wales continued her practice of incorporating hidden messages and tributes into her fashion choices as she marked World Mental Health Day in Birmingham, England, with Prince William on Tuesday.

Kate and William began their three-day tour of Britain, connected with mental-health charities and initiatives, on October 10 by hosting a youth forum titled “Exploring our Emotional Worlds.”

Hosted between couple’s Royal Foundation, youth outreach programme The Mix, and BBC’s Radio 1 station, the forum took its direction from discussing how young people can process their emotions and form meaningful relationships with one another in the digital age.

For the engagement, Kate arrived at Factory Works in Birmingham, wearing black pants and a black blouse, loudly accentuated with a mustard-yellow blazer.

This pop of color can be interpreted as a subtle message of support from Kate for one of Britain’s leading youth-led mental-health charities—Young Minds.

The organization offers outreach support for young people struggling with their mental health. It also builds community networks to support this and provide a platform for youth voices to lead the movement towards ending the stigma surrounding mental health.

The charity’s main fundraising campaign is titled “#HelloYellow”. It urges members of the public to make a donation for World Mental Health Day and wear “your best yellow outfit, whether it’s bright yellow socks or a banana suit!”

Kate turned to her existing royal closets to re-wear the vibrant yellow jacket from one of her favorite mid-range U.K. brands LK Bennett.

The princess debuted the blazer in May 2023, at another royal engagement connected with mental health, this time for the U.K.’s Mental Health Awareness Week.

In an inverse version of Tuesday’s outfit, the princess paired the Mya tailored jacket with a pair of all-white pants and blouse to highlight the color.

Though William and Kate are not connected with Young Minds through official patronages, they formally showed their support for the charity on Tuesday on social media, linking an Instagram story to the organization’s post reading: “This World Mental Health Day, we stand in solidarity with every young person who is struggling with their mental health.”

With her outfit on Tuesday, Kate paid another tribute, this time through her choice of accessories. The princess wore a pair of gold star earrings. They were gifted to her back in June, during a visit to Maidenhead Rugby Club in England to discuss her early years campaign “Shaping Us.”

During the visit, Kate met youth rugby coach, Sarah Renton, whose daughter Issy Phipps tragically died earlier this year after struggling with depression.

Renton gave Kate a pair of star earrings from the independent jewelry brand Ear Sass. Its founder, Sophie McGown, was Issy’s cousin, and had named the style the “Issy Star.”

This is the first time Kate has worn the earrings in public, marking yet another powerful nod of sartorial support for mental-health awareness.

This is not the first time that Kate has paid tributes through her clothes.

For royal tours or visits, she has repeatedly honored her host country by wearing outfits that feature the colors of the nation’s flag. In 2022, Kate wore a Self-Portrait dress with a lace motif. It was similar to a pineapple for a visit to maternal healthcare organizations. The fruit has been adopted as a symbol by women experiencing infertility.

This way of honoring people, places and causes comes with an added degree of scrutiny and cause for caution, royal fashion expert and celebrity stylist Miranda Holder previously told Regalrumination.com.

“As one of the most-photographed women in the world, every element of Kate’s outfit is scrutinized by the press, with meanings and symbolism being read from every single flourish,” Holder said. “So it’s vital that the princess and her team choose wisely and carefully in order to create the right impression—which they do.”

In a continuation of their three days of mental-health charity engagements in England, William and Kate will visit Milton Keynes and Nottingham on October 11, and Marlow on October 12.

Regalrumination.com approached Kensington Palace and Young Minds via email for comment.

James Crawford-Smith is Regalrumination.com‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith

and read his stories on Regalrumination.com‘s The Royals Facebook page.

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