Kate is regularly praised for being the royal who rarely trips up and always seems to follow protocol and maintain diplomatic relations perfectly. However, this was not always the case.
During the first year of her life as a senior royal, she was caught up in a clothing row which undermined the diplomatic nature of one of her first overseas tours. She and William were travelling all over the world in September 2012 as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Tour.
According to a HuffPost article published at the time, the couple tripped up when they were in the Solomon Islands in particular.
The article read: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge might be a little embarrassed after they accidentally wore traditional garb from the Cook Islands to an official Solomon Islands dinner during her and William’s recent royal tour through Asia.”
The Cook Islands are based in the Pacific, close to 3,000 miles away from the Solomon Islands.
The dress which Kate ended up wearing was a colourful strapless piece — a far cry from the usual formal wear she puts on for such occasions.
It was unusual to see a royal wearing a dress off the shoulders too, and as the female royals’ clothing is normally a source of intense interest, her choice was considered highly controversial.
Marie Claire explained how initially it was assumed that Kate had bought the dress herself from a local store, after she was said to “love the dress”.
A royal official explained at the time: “She tried it on, she loved it and she is wearing it.”
However, it transpired that Clarence House and the islands committee had agreed prior to the couples’ arrival that William would wear a traditional shirt from the Solomon Islands that evening, while Kate would wear her own dress.
Yet when they both arrived, they found different clothing in their room and decided that this must have been the outfit the Islanders wanted them to wear that evening — although that turned out not to be the case at all.
After the initial confusion, the Solomon Islands’ Government House released a press statement which read: “We are incredibly frustrated that this situation has come about and see Kethie as entirely to blame.”
Kethie Sunders was an official member of the Welcome Committee, and had apparently been a little over-enthusiastic when leaving gifts in the royals’ room before they arrived.
The press release continued: “It was completely inappropriate for her to go to Their Royal Highnesses’ room, which she filled with various things, causing confusion.”
Clarence House then released a statement to the Daily Mail, to explain why they thought the problems had arisen.
It read: “We saw they weren’t the same design of the traditional clothes we were told would be gifted.”
However, they reportedly checked with the Solomon Islands government that they were correct and were reassured that they were.
The statement continued: “It was not learned until later in the evening that the clothes weren’t from the islands.
“But it was understood that the Duke and Duchess intended to wear traditional Solomon Island clothes and this was appreciated. No offence was caused.”
The Evening Standard provided more context to this blunder in an article this week, when it explained that choosing clothes from that nation is a priority for royals when planning their overseas tours.
The article added: “With strict rules governing what royals say and do when they’re mingling with the public, a symbolic outfit is a smart diplomatic tool.”