Kate Middleton has 2 tricks for wearing high heels for hours on end with a smile on her face
Heels can be uncomfortable, but Kate Middleton knows how to make them work.
The Princess of Wales, who can be on her feet for hours at a time during royal engagements, is said to use at least two tricks to stay comfortable and fashionably dressed at all times. We spoke with Myka Meier, the founder of etiquette consultancy Beaumont Etiquette, about the products the British royal is said to use.Kate Middleton has been photographed wearing tights with non-slip grips on them
To prevent her feet from slipping out of her heels, Meier said Middleton wears non-slip tights from John Lewis, a high-end department store in the United Kingdom. The sheer stockings retail for £6, or around US$6.50, and feature gel strips on the bottom of each foot that grip to the soles of shoes.
As leading shoe magazine Footwear News reported in 2017, royal fans previously spotted a photo of Middleton seemingly wearing the tights while on a royal tour of Canada in July 2011. The photo shows clear, gel-like strips peeking out over the side of the Princess of Wales’ pointed-toe Tabitha Simmons heels.
Middleton also wore the shoes while visiting Sainte-Justine University Hospital in Montreal on the third day of the trip. Representatives for John Lewis did not respond to a request for comment.
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The Princess of Wales is also said to use leather insoles
Meier also noted that Middleton has been known to wear Alice Bow insoles created by British designer Rachel Bowditch. According to Alice Bow’s website, the slip-in leather soles are designed to cushion your feet so you can comfortably wear any type of shoe, including high heels, for hours.
In 2015, an unnamed source told Vanity Fair’s royal correspondent Katie Nicholl that Middleton had “ordered a couple of packets” of the Alice Bow insoles. “She thinks they are great,” the source said.
At the time, a spokesperson for Alice Bow told Vanity Fair that the company could not comment on “talk of the duchess wearing [its] insoles”. “We have seen a massive surge in site visits, however,” the spokesperson added. Representatives for Alice Bow did not respond to a request for comment.
There is no official protocol that dictates what footwear royals should wear
According to royal expert Victoria Arbiter, the late Queen Elizabeth set a strict precedent about wearing stockings in public during her 70-year reign.“You never see a royal without their nude stockings,” Arbiter previously said. “I would say that’s really the only hard, steadfast rule in terms of what the queen requires.”
Meier added that British royals typically follow that guideline while “performing their royal duties in their professional roles”.
The same goes for their shoes, with royals making sure to choose “appropriate” footwear for the occasion, like Middleton wearing “sneakers and flats at more casual or athletic-themed events”, Meier said.
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