The Queen's Funeral Marks Two Fashion Firsts For Princess Charlotte

In her first public appearance since Queen Elizabeth II's death, Princess Charlotte simultaneously won and broke hearts on Monday when she attended the queen's funeral. Originally, no one was sure any of the members of the newest generation of royals would be attending, given their ages; Prince William and Prince Harry's children are both younger than they were when the brothers attended Princess Diana's funeral.

According to Hello!, the decision to bring Princess Charlotte and Prince George was one the Prince and Princess of Wales carefully considered last week, ultimately deciding their youngest, Prince Louis, 4, was too young to attend. While visiting mourners outside of Windsor Castle last week, Kate Middleton admitted it was her eldest George who had a better understanding of what was going on, per InStyle. She added that little optimist Louis said, "At least Grannie is with Great-Grandpa now."

However, Princess Charlotte was spotted in photos published by Page Six shedding tears Monday for "Gran Gran" as Queen Elizabeth's casket was moved from the gun carriage to the hearse the queen helped design. Despite the somber occasion, there's no denying Charlotte looked like a princess and, as Vogue Australia noted, the spitting image of her mother, down to the way the young royal accessorized.

Mirroring her mother, Kate Middleton, seven-year-old Princess Charlotte wore a wide-brimmed hat to Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. Keen royal watchers took to Twitter, equal parts excited and heartbroken to see the young royal wearing a formal hat for the first time.

"Princess Charlotte's little hat is really getting to me," Christina Ng, a producer at ABC, tweeted, including a tear emoji and a picture of Princess Charlotte standing with Middleton. Another added that seeing Charlotte in her hat was one of the moments that made them cry from Her Majesty's funeral. Others called her a "miniature Princess Anne," and said that both she and Prince George "did their grandmother proud today."

Daily Mail Correspondent Rebecca English shared a picture of Charlotte's outfit on Twitter where you can also see another fashion first: a horseshoe-shaped diamond brooch — the princess's first piece of jewelry worn in public. English added the brooch was said to be a gift from Queen Elizabeth II, adding another layer of sentimental value to the touching tribute. For the rest of her stylish funeral ensemble, Charlotte was also wearing black tights, black ballet flats, and the "Girls Black Wool Coat" by Ancar, per Hello!

Queen Elizabeth's funeral was not the first time we've seen Kate Middleton and Princess Charlotte in mommy-and-me style outfits. Back in 2017, the pair descended a plane in Canada during an official state visit wearing "blue dresses and matching accessories," per Vogue. It wasn't the only time that year they matched, either; during a visit to Berlin, Vogue reports Catherine and Charlotte were both wearing cornflower blue dresses, a "nod" to Germany's national flower.

Princess Charlotte matched her mom again in 2017 when they attended the Trooping the Colour, the annual birthday celebration for Queen Elizabeth II. According to CheatSheet, they both wore pink as they had in 2016, but changed things up with blue in 2018.

Middleton even matched her daughter for Charlotte's christening as an infant, debuting an ivory Alexander McQueen dress that People reports she went on to re-wear in 2022. More recently, the pair were seen twinning again in blue on their way to St. George's Chapel in April of this year for Easter Sunday services (via CheatSheet).