Kate Middleton Had 1 Request for Her 2016 British Vogue Cover

Kate Middleton knew what she wanted for her 2016 British Vogue cover. The Princess of Wales, 42, had one condition for the magazine shoot , and perhaps unsurprisingly to fans of Kate’s style, it had to do with her clothes.

Kate initially rejected the idea of posing on the cover of British Vogue

Although Kate flashed a megawatt smile at the camera, she wasn’t eager to sign on for the project. As Alexandra Shulman, British Vogue’s editor-in-chief at the time said in the issue, she’d already asked the royal and gotten a no.

“I had approached her and been turned away, politely but firmly,” she said (via British Vogue ). “Nonetheless, when it came to our centenary issue, a magazine that would celebrate not only 100 years of its own existence but 100 years of British life and culture, I approached her again.”

She explained that this time around, there was a “new connection.” The National Portrait Gallery, which Kate’s been patron of since 2012, was teaming up with Vogue for an exhibition. Kate agreed, and after “several months” of conversation with the publication and National Portrait Gallery, the cover shoot happened.

Kate wanted to dress casually for her British Vogue cover

In his new book, Catherine, The Princess of Wales: A Biography , out Aug. 6, 2024, author Robert Jobson shared that the future queen didn’t want any finery for her British Vogue cover. So, no tiaras, jewels from the royal family’s extensive collection, or gowns.

“Far from wanting to pose in couture, she asked to be photographed in informal clothes appropriate for the Norfolk countryside,” he wrote (via Daily Mail ).

“According to Vogue’s then editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman, Catherine arrived for the shoot in jeans, a parka jacket, and her hair in big rollers. Once she was made up, she barely checked herself in the mirror, spending far more time asking the photographer technical questions about how he composed his pictures.” (Kate’s a big fan of photography and takes many of the Wales kids’ portraits.)

10 suitcases of clothes were brought to the shoot and hung up on rails. Kate then “sifted” through them, “laughing and some” and “overlooking others” (evening gowns for “just in case”).

Perhaps the only slightly less casual moment involved Kate’s hair . She brought her longtime hairdresser, Amanda Cook Tucker, to the cover shoot, “who was dragging a wheelie case of products.”

Other British royals to appear on the cover of Vogue

Princess Diana ‘Didn’t Comment’ on JFK Jr.’s Looks After They Secretly Met, but He Did

British royalty gracing the cover of Vogue isn’t exactly new for the storied fashion publication. By the time of Kate’s 2016 cover, two women in the royal family had already done it.

Her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana , appeared on three British Vogue covers during her lifetime and one posthumously, as well as a U.S. edition.

Princess Anne , 73, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip , has also done multiple Vogue covers. Although Meghan Markle guest-edited the September 2019 issue of British Vogue, she didn’t appear on the cover .