5 Times Kate Middleton Was Compared To Melania Trump

On the surface, it does not seem like Catherine, Princess of Wales and former First Lady Melania Trump have much in common. However, their lives and circumstances are parallel in many ways. For instance, both of them married into famous (and wealthy) families, although the British royalty has a much longer history than the Trump family.

Additionally, both the royal family and the Trumps have ties to the politics of their respective nations, but the British monarchy is a lot more hands-off from politics than it used to be. Kate Middleton has many patronages, yet she does not outwardly support or represent a certain political party. On the contrary, Melania's role as wife of the president during Donald Trump's administration was, of course, a political one.

Kate and Melania are also both lauded as being fashionistas, and similarly, some of Melania's outrageous outfits have caused a stir and some of Kate's outfits have been called inappropriate, too. But that's just the start of the ways that Kate has been compared to Melania.

One fashion brand that Catherine, Princess of Wales seems to love is Erdem, the eponymous brand created by Erdem Moralioglu MBE. The company is in London, but one of their designs made its way across the pond to Melania Trump in July 2018. Prior to a visit to London, Melania was photographed wearing a white sundress with a parrot pattern from Erdem, per photos shared by Yahoo!.

Kate Middleton has worn Erdem for many official engagements, and the Kate Middleton Style Blog has a page dedicated to such instances. One time Kate rocked an Erdem top and skirt was for the Commonwealth Day service in 2023. The princess brought back a polarizing 2010s trend by wearing a peplum-style jacket from the fashion brand. The jacket and skirt both had a matching floral pattern.

Beyond a mutual love of Erdem, Kate has also been compared to Melania thanks to sharing a staple in their wardrobes.

If it's cold outside, most fashionistas won't opt for a puffy winter coat. Instead, the epitome of class is a coat dress. The versatile staple comes in many styles, patterns, and colors. 

E! News did a round-up comparison of Melania Trump and Catherine, Princess of Wales coat dress looks in 2017. Although, it does not seem like the women have worn the exact same dress, on separate occasions they have both worn a dark blue, belted coat dress with matching blue high heels. Kate Middleton's coat dress was from the Eponine brand and had a higher collar, buttons lined up the bodice, and a thin belt. Melania's dress had a thicker belt and a trench coat neckline.

Melania isn't the only member of the Trump family that Kate has unintentionally matched with — Princess Catherine and Ivanka Trump have similar style as well and have even been spotted wearing the same pieces before.

Kate Middleton and Prince William have been voted the most popular members of the British royal family in the past. However, another poll that pitted influential men and women in the world against each other showed that Melania was more popular than Middleton. Gallup's Most Admired Man and Woman poll, which ran from 1946 to 2020, asked participants, "What woman that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most? And who is your second?"

The first year that Melania and Kate faced off on the Gallup poll was 2016. That year, Kate had a higher score, earning 1% of votes while Melania only earned less than 0.5%. The following year both of them earned 1% of votes, but Melania must have been listed by participants slightly more times, because according to Newsweek, she was ranked over Kate and Nikki Haley, who also got 1%. The final three years after that, Kate's luck didn't change. She earned less than 0.5% of votes each time. Melania earned 4% of votes for 2018, 5% for 2019, and 4% of votes for 2020.

Neither Kate nor Melania ever topped that list. In the years that they were part of the survey, Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama took home the gold.

The world spun out of control with conspiracy theories about where Catherine, Princess of Wales was following her January 2024 abdominal surgery. One celebrity who weighed in on the conspiracy theories was TV host Jimmy Kimmel. In a clip from a March 2024 episode of his talk show shared by the Independent, Kimmel compared Kate being smissing to how Melania Trump kept a low profile in the years after her husband's 2020 election loss. Kimmel said, "This shows you how different it is in the U.K. Kate goes missing for a few weeks, the whole country goes berserk. Meanwhile, we haven't seen Melania since 2021."

One wild rumor that has been circulated about both Melania and Kate on separate occasions is that they have body doubles step in and take their place for one reason or another. Bravo host Andy Cohen was a vocal skeptic of Kate's appearance in a video at a farm shop and even stirred up the theory that it could have been a body double. Cohen later apologized after the truth came to light and Kate told the world about her cancer.

Prior to her health update, Catherine, Princess of Wales was compared to Melania Trump by someone else in March 2024. This time, what her reign as queen consort might look like. Journalist and royal commentator Rob Shuter spoke on "Good Day New York" and explained that he thought trouble in paradise for Kate Middleton and Prince William was partially to blame for her break: "I think it's a combination of both [health and marriage]. Trouble in the marriage might have had a terrible effect on your health, which makes a lot of sense," he said (via CheatSheet).

Shuter also told "Good Day New York" about how, like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Kate might quit being a full-time working royal. The journalist said (via CheatSheet), "I don't think [William and Kate] are getting divorced ... but she will be an absentee queen." Shuter then brought up Melania, using the former first lady as an example of how Kate will be as queen consort — less on the front lines so to speak.

Of course, it was later shared that the reason for Kate's absence was her health. And one thing that could disprove Shuter's theories about Kate's future reign is that she and William seem like a dream team. On the other hand, Melania shines brighter without Donald Trump at her side.