Kate Middleton's closet (and even just her coat rotation) reads like a who's who Fashion Week's heavy-hitters. With huge, established labels like Alexander McQueen rubbing shoulders with more fashion-insider brands such as Alessandra Rich and Emilia Wickstead, Kate has refined her tastes to give fans exactly what they want: a refined elegance that's fitting for the future queen consort of England. But a royal expert explains that Kate's fashion choices have been very deliberate from the very beginning and part of why she never went out wearing head-to-toe designer was because she (and the royals, no doubt) wanted her to embrace the fact that she was just a normal girl.

Another layer of the quiet and approachable looks (remember when she wore Zara?) was so that she could remind people of Princess Diana, the expert noted, who was also known for being relatable.

"So, Kate was a commoner. Especially in the British collective thinking, it was really important she did not overstep," royal reporter Elizabeth Holmes explained on the Royally Us podcast, according to the Daily Star.

She went on to explain that because Kate had been in the public eye for so long, people had grown accustomed to seeing her dressed down, much like everyone remembered seeing Princess Diana in her gym clothes or out wearing everyday items as she lived her life post-divorce. While Kate may not have been copying Diana's casual outfits exactly, she did offer up the same vibes.

"If she would have gone out wearing designer head to toe, bespoke from the start, it would have sent a message," Holmes added. "But instead, you just sort of kept going with what she was doing. There are a lot of pictures of Kate and William in their dating years, they dated for a very long time, the public was very familiar with her by the time they announced their engagement, and she stayed true to that. And I think that lent a sort of authenticity to her. I think there was certainly a group of people who thought she should up her game a little bit more and she did."

And the monarchy as a whole seems to have gotten exactly what it wanted with Kate: a duchess that has perfected the balance of being approachable and aspirational.

"It was important for her to hold onto this every girl image and I think it was important for the monarchy as a whole," Holmes finished. "Because Diana had been the people's princess, here was one of our people joining those ranks, and there is real power in us as viewers seeing somebody we can relate to."

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