Queen Letizia of Spain channels the Duchess of Cambridge for her first appearance in the UK

Do those nude court shoes and that floral fascinator look familiar to you? For her first appearance on her state visit to the UK today, Queen Letizia of Spain appears to have taken her fashion cue directly from the Duchess of Cambridge.

Letizia, who usually is spotted in Spanish designer labels like Felipe Varela, as well as their high street hitters Zara and Uterque, instead chose an all-yellow look more suited to a day out at Ascot for her visit, meeting The Queen, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at Buckingham Palace.

A former newsreader on TVE, her go-to for formal occasions is razor sharp dresses and pitch-perfect suiting, yet this morning’s ensemble (a canary sheath dress and a lace-trimmed dress coat, teamed with buttercup gloves) resembled nothing that we’d seen her in before.

Perhaps she had hoped to appeal to her hosts, each duly clad in their own A-line coats by their signature dressmakers Stewart Parvin and Anna Valentine. Certainly she timed it well to wear yellow just as the sun reemerged.

But this was a chance for Letizia to show herself as a glamorous fashion rival to Kate and co. (and to highlight the best of her nation’s design talents, just as the Duchess might when she heads to Poland and Germany next week) so it seems ill-judged that she’s simply mimicked one of the Duchess’s look from the races five years ago, for her first moment in our country’s spotlight.

Is this what people in the outside world think British style is all about? The Duchess of Cambridge has undoubtedly figured out what works for her on an international stage, and has honed a look that thousands want to copy. But nodding to Britishness can surely be about more than repli-Kating our fashion figurehead’s favourites, right down to the nude heels?

There’s a banquet to be held tonight (which the Duchess will also be attending) offering a dress code that Queen Letizia is undoubtedly more familiar with. On previous gala occasions she’s been seen in cool caped dresses by Stella McCartney, or embellished Carolina Herrera numbers. Perhaps later we will see her go back to doing what she does best - and feeling comfortable in her signature clothes.

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