After the hurricane of Prince Harry's memoirs and the documentary of the couple he forms with Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton's aura could have lost its luster. Accused directly by her brother-in-law and his wife, she did not even blink. Keeping with Prince William head high. And on the day of her father-in-law's coronation, she appeared imperial, almost stealing the show from the rest of the royal family. Wearing her diamond tiara, she gave a glimpse of the queen she will be if the future continues to write her history within the English court.
This stroke of brilliance, as subtle as it is elegant, has placed the princess more than ever on the front of the stage. Since then, we only see her or almost. She has been seen playing rugby in Maidenhead, becoming a tennis player alongside Roger Federer, meeting children and their parents in the Windsor Family Hub, shining in an Elie Saab evening dress at the wedding of Prince Hussein of Jordan... In short, Kate Middleton is everywhere: smiling, caring, patient. And above all, never seems to have been as radiant and fulfilled as at the dawn of her 40th birthday.
Kate Middleton in the glow of her 40 years
In pictures
View slideshow21 photos
View slideshow21 photos
Magnify the natural
But in addition to maturity, what makes it different? If the Princess of Wales does not seem to have made incredible transformations both in terms of makeup and hairstyle, everything is played in the details. Because on the beauty side, Kate Middleton has always been a fervent supporter of natural make-up. She would have chosen to make up herself on her wedding day in order to be the most faithful to what she loves, to what she is. Today, she knows her classics and masters them more than ever. "With her, there is no question of wanting to hide something. The idea seems to be to magnify what is natural. And she's doing it very well now. There's nothing complicated, it's just thought out intelligently," says Patrick Lorentz, Global Pro Make-up Artist Estée Lauder.
Look
"She has embraced the big trend of 2023: the 50 shades of brown spirit. And remains quite monochrome in its beauty." So what has changed compared to his first steps alongside Prince William in front of the paparazzi? For the expert, everything is played at the level of the look. "Already, she lightened her eyebrows a little. The head of the latter was much heavier and more square before." However, many makeup artists say it, the eyebrow can make all the difference. It was then at eye level that the princess changed subtle details.
In his makeup, there is nothing complicated, it is just thought with intelligence
Patrick Lorentz, Global pro make-up artist Estée Lauder
"Kate Middleton has a fairly small mobile eyelid and an eyebrow placed very high. She has the good idea to put light shades on her mobile eyelid: a makeup trick to open and enlarge the look. " For Patrick Lorentz, George, Charlotte and Louis' mother understood that light gives volume and dark hollow. "She is therefore right to put on the fixed eyelid tones a little darker like a mole that will crush the arch a little and avoid the evading look." Another detail that she masters better at 40 than at 20? The liner she applied to the root of the eyelashes, on the upper eyelid. "But it wasn't necessarily a good idea for her," says expert Estée Lauder. Indeed, on this kind of mobile eyelid, the line will take up too much space. Better to draw it right on the corner." Ditto for the black kohl stroke that the former Duchess of Cambridge was adept at in her twenties: "It will shrink the eye while she already has small eyes and therefore it will further narrow the look".
Complexion and cheekbones
On the complexion side, Patrick Lorentz notes that the Princess of Wales has a good primer that will reduce enlarged pores. She also plays on the sun powder with which she redraws the contours of her face. "After, as she has the cheekbones quite prominence, I would place the powder more under them. Unlike her who tends to put her powder on it and crush her cheekbone. I would suggest that she put a little pink blush instead to highlight it."
Another important detail: lipstick. Prince William's wife is always very classic with nudes, roses. "It could play on more supported colors because the darker the hair, the more I like to harmonize with shades that are also dark." And if the court's habits of recommending natural makeup are less strict (after all we recently saw Kate Middleton with a red manicure), Patrick Lorentz would even see a beautiful red on the lips of the Princess of Wales. "Not an orange-red but a cherry or burgundy red with brown in it, it would be bolder and would work very well with his personality."
She still managed to establish herself as an iconic and timeless woman.
Adrien Coelho, founder of Coelho Beauty
Mastered blow-drying
On the hairstyle side, the same observation. Kate Middleton plays on naturalness and has never dared a radical or spectacular transformation. But has evolved by playing on the details. "She looked for herself a little but by making slight more personalized changes to her look, she became more and more beautiful," says hairdresser Adrien Coelho. In the eyes of the latter, the tour de force of the Princess of Wales lies in her ability to impose herself while remaining faithful to the etiquette: "She marks her style by respecting what is expected of her, just like what tradition expects of her. Admittedly, she remains more classic than Diana in her time, but she has still managed to impose herself as an iconic and timeless woman. " The only eccentricity we know of him? A fringe she tried in 2006 or 2015. "It didn't suit him so badly: there were certainly mistakes. It was sometimes too thick on the sides for example but I think the subtle curtain bangs gave it a lot of character."
In video, "I'm 41 years old but shhh don't say it..."
In terms of evolution, the hairstyle expert notes in any case an embellishment of his hair. "You can see that she has a good routine, that she takes care of her lengths. It is well advised. She must also have a good brushing ritual morning and evening." Indeed, the mother of George, Charlotte and Louis today displays very shiny hair, unlike her debut on the public scene. "His blow-drys always seem very controlled, and this, at each appearance."
On the color side, Kate Middleton has learned to play with light effects to highlight her face. "I think she could add more, keep her natural color in the background to be in tune with her eyes and eyebrows. But we could accentuate even more this play of shadows and lights around his face, try a less uniform tone, as if the sun had come to caress his hair. "
Kate's other asset? His buns. Which might look ceremonial but ultimately never get bored. "They have the gift of highlighting his face," says the founder of the hair care brand Coelho Beauty. Like the coronation of Charles III where the braided version caused a sensation. "It was placed high enough to ensure a head bearing... royal. And there was a paradox that works well: a classic bun mixed with braids for a romantic and much less austere side. Not to mention the spirit of the free locks on the back, the idea is really not to opt for something fixed and perfect as in the 1990s. "
In pictures, a look back at Kate Middleton's hairstyles
Kate Middleton's hairstyles
In pictures
View slideshow48 photos
View slideshow48 photos
Perfect equation
And what about the ponytail that Kate Middleton dares on occasion? "With her, she's sending a message like, 'I'm the right girlfriend.' It is a bias that is not too ceremonial or too old. Without going to extremes, she manages to show that she has personality while knowing her position and staying in her place."
At the same time good girlfriend, future queen and woman of her time, Kate Middleton seems to have found the perfect equation to continue to dazzle the English as well as the rest of the world.