What do Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s choice of outfit colours symbolise? We ask a style expert

When I saw the Princess of Wales’s Jenny Packham gown and the Duchess of Sussex’s Nicolas Ghesquiere for Louis Vuitton dress, I was immediately struck by their choices of colour. Why for example had Catherine opted for red? And was there a reason why Meghan chose white?

Catherine has long been a fan of wearing red as it most certainly works well with her dark hair. However, it is obviously a bold and powerful colour, which might be why she chose to wear it last night for a Buckingham Place reception. I exclusively interviewed style expert Charlotte Broadbent for her professional view on the matter.

She explained to me that she believes that Catherine chose to wear red to the reception last night as it is a “dramatic, bold statement” to make. Charlotte goes on to say that “red symbolises love and passion, two traits close to the Princess’s heart. Red represents being in control, dominance and power, it can however elicit strong feelings of aggression and is a colour of extremity. Perhaps this shows that the Princess of Wales is torn between feelings of love and anger? Interestingly red is associated with a high probability of winning-only if we are calling this a battle of the dresses of course!”

In contrast to red, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex looked beautiful in white as she received (alongside Prince Harry) the Ripple of Hope Award in New York. According to Charlotte, white was definitely the most appropriate colour for Meghan to wear to the event as “the awards were set up to protect and advance equality, justice and rights.” Charlotte elaborates further on this by saying that “it is a fitting choice of colour given white is referred to as a symbol of peace and perhaps this is a way of promoting a ‘fresh start’ for Meghan.

So what else can Charlotte tell us about the colour white? “Symbols such as the white dove represent hope and peace, while the white flag is often used to call a truce on the battleground. White is often seen as portraying an innocence in colour and is often worn to radiate superiority and a certain sophistication.”

When it came to Meghan’s choice of dress, there was an obvious similarity to the style of wedding dress she opted for and of course the colour. According to Vogue, it was Queen Victoria who “started the trend for a ‘white wedding’ in the mid-19th century.”

Edwina Erhman, a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum explained to the BBC about the white colour connotation.

“And if you’ve already been living with your partner or even if you’ve had children you may want to wear white at your wedding because you feel it marks a new phase in your relationship.”

The ‘relationship’ part does not apply to where Meghan is concerned but the idea of a ‘new phase’ certainly does.

It will be interesting to see which colours Catherine and Meghan choose to wear in the coming days as Harry and Meghan’s docu-series starts on Netflix tomorrow. Watch this space!