The Duchess of Cambridge, at the Wimbledon finals, confirms the little yellow dress is a summer must-have

The Duchess of Cambridge arriving at the Wimbledon men's singles final in a Dolce and Gabbana dress and an Asprey necklace - Getty Images Europe
The Duchess of Cambridge arriving at the Wimbledon men's singles final in a Dolce and Gabbana dress and an Asprey necklace - Getty Images Europe

The Duchess of Cambridge could be spotted from a mile off as she arrived at Centre Court today, to watch Novak Djokovic take on Kevin Anderson in the Wimbledon men’s finals.

Dressed in a slice of lemon-esque, Dolce and Gabbana dress, she looked entirely heatwave-ready, and is guaranteed to stand out on screen when the finalists pause for a breather between rallies and the cameras inevitably pan to HRH in the crowd.

The Duchess’ endorsement of the LYD, or little yellow dress, secures the status of ‘sunshine dressing’ as one of summer’s key trends. A week ago, her sister-in-law the Duchess of Sussex opted for a banana Brandon Maxwell number to a Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception in London, while Melania Trump, the visiting First Lady, picked a Beauty and the Beast-tinged, butter J. Mendel gown for dinner at Blenheim Palace on Thursday.

The Duchess of Sussex wearing Brandon Maxwell
The Duchess of Sussex wearing Brandon Maxwell

Yellow has become the go-to colour for anyone in search of a feel-good-fashion factor. It’s the colour of sunshine, of full-fat butter, of Snapchat.

Generation Z (those born in the mid-Nineties to early Noughties) have claimed the hue as theirs. Apparently ‘Millennial pink’ is now old hat, and an almost-sour shade of yellow (challenging to wear for many skin tones, let's not kid ourselves) is what’s required to counteract all the sugariness stocked up by the elders.   

The Duchess of Cambridge's Dolce and Gabbana dress
The Duchess of Cambridge's Dolce and Gabbana dress

Is Kate doing some sort of subliminal fashion signalling trick here, trying to speak to the youth with her courtside outfit today? For the first time in a long time, no. Let’s not over-analyse this one, and instead appreciate it for the joy-bringing burst of summery colour that it is, and the golden glow that will beam from the front pages washed with her pictures tomorrow.

The Duchess reached for this dress this morning because, above anything else, it probably just made her smile. What a novel thought that is.

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