Why Beatrice has what it takes to be the next ‘It’ princess

A statement headband caught the eye through the windows of Buckingham Palace for Trooping of the Colour on Thursday with Beatrice watching the Platinum Jubilee festivities inside with Meghan.

Teams of seasoned posh professionals have carefully guided Beatrice towards the best dressed lists that her mother Sarah, Duchess of York, remains a stranger to. Former British Vogue stylist Mary Fellowes, Sarah’s second cousin, was originally called on to update the looks of Beatrice and Eugenie in 2012.

“I said to them, ‘If you let me do what I think I should do, I promise you I’ll get you in the Vogue best dressed list by the summer’,” Fellowes told a British newspaper in August. “They were like, ‘No way.’ And I did. I’m very proud of them for that because I think they’d had quite a mixed style journey until then.”

It was when Beatrice began dating her future husband, property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, that her tastes matured towards labels with cool credentials, with stylists Lady Emily Compton and Olivia Buckingham coming on board in 2019. The grown-up look has helped distance the princess in the media from her father Prince Andrew, who paid an undisclosed sum earlier this year to Virginia Giuffre, who accused him in a US lawsuit of sexually abusing her two decades ago when she was 17. The prince did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.

Along with her work with the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, Beatrice has gained attention by wearing outfits from Maje, Alaïa, Self-Portrait, Mary Katrantzou and handbags from Gucci. Australian label Zimmermann has also gained royal favour, with the princess wearing a Zimmermann floral dress to announce her engagement in 2019, and another design on a visit to Sweden’s Drottningholm Palace in April.

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“Zimmermann suits her,” says Australian stylist Mikey Ayoubi, who has worked with Hilary Swank, Lara Worthington and Jessica Mauboy. “This is something that she has really grow into, wearing them with effortless charm that complements her masculine, boyish features.”

Beatrice was able to maintain her newfound sense of style throughout her recent pregnancy, giving birth to Sienna Elizabeth Mazzopardi Mozzi in September.

“When she wore a polka-dot dress to Wimbeldon and wasn’t hiding her belly, she looked great,” Lam says of the belted Self-Portrait dress. “She was celebrating her pregnancy, which was a bit different to the way celebrities might dress because there are still guidelines that royal family has to follow.” (Translation: No exposed Rihanna baby bumps for royalty.)

For Lam, the most important change is that Beatrice is finding her own voice through fashion.

“What is great is the way that she is using her voice through fashion,” Lam says. “There was a strong message of sustainability when she wore her grandmother’s vintage dress for her wedding.”

Beatrice wore a re-worked Norman Hartnell dress loaned from the Queen’s private collection. “She could have asked anyone to design a dress but made this incredible decision. She is also an advocate for eco fashion brands like Veja, Reformation and supporting independent brands too.”

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