If Kate Middleton’s Chocolate Brown Skirt Looked Familiar, You’re Not Wrong

While visiting a women’s prison in Cheshire on February 11, Kate Middleton wore a familiar coat—and, it turns out, a familiar skirt, too.

While visiting HMP Styal yesterday, Kate wore a BLAZÉ Milano coat that she’s worn multiple times before, including to a visit to Royal Marsden Hospital in January and on Christmas Day 2021. What Kate Wore estimated that the turtleneck the duchess wore underneath the familiar coat was also a rewear—likely her Kiltane Cashmere Polo Neck Jumper, worn several times by the royal.

Her skirt, however, is both new and old—a new color, but a familiar style. Yesterday’s ribbed knit style, midi length skirt appeared to be the chocolate brown version of Sézane’s Naelle Skirt, according to Princess of Wales Closet, which is offered in a variety of colors. The Princess of Wales wore the same style—albeit this time in the “Natural” colorway—for a visit to Nottingham Trent University in October 2023.

For her February 11 visit to HMP Styal, she also rewore bespoke suede boots from Gianvito Rossi and a new pair of earrings, which Kate Middleton Style said were likely from Katherine James Jewelry.

The future queen was at the prison to “highlight the importance of strong, loving, and consistent mother and baby relationships to a child’s development, even in the most challenging of environments,” according to a statement from Kensington Palace. While at HMP Styal—which has around 400 inmates—Kate visited a Mother and Baby Unit run by Action for Children at the prison; Kate has been patron of Action for Children since 2016, taking the patronage over from Queen Elizabeth.

While onsite, Kate met staff and former residents to hear about support provided to mothers in the prison, even meeting three babies currently in the unit and speaking privately with two of the mothers and their newborns, according to People. Although the mothers in the unit were “nervous,” Kate made everyone there feel “incredibly comfortable,” Amanda Taylor, Action for Children’s operational director of children’s services, told the outlet.

“She just naturally helped the women to feel relaxed,” Taylor said. “One of the women found it hard to talk, and she spent some time with her at the end, talking to her one-to-one. She is very skilled at making people feel comfortable. These are very vulnerable women in a difficult situation.”

This is Kate’s fourth visit to a prison since becoming a working royal in 2011. She has called early years work—specifically focusing on child development from pregnancy to five years old—her “life’s work,” and in 2021 she created The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. Two years later, in 2023, she launched the Shaping Us campaign, aimed at focusing on those critical years for children five years old and under.