Kate Middleton's Latest Video Has a Hidden Detail Fans Believe Is About Prince William
Known for repeating her outfits, the Princess of Wales drew attention with a familiar scarf that fans quickly recognised
Kate Middleton has never been one to treat her wardrobe as disposable. Long before sustainability became a talking point, she was quietly repeating coats, dresses, and accessories sometimes years apart, and doing so without apology. That instinct was on display again in her latest appearance, where one familiar piece stood out: a scarf she has owned since her days as Prince William’s girlfriend, long before she became the Princess of Wales, and long before she had her foot in the royal household as she has now.
The accessory resurfaced in the final video in Middleton's Mother Nature series, released to coincide with her 44th birthday on January 9. Filmed during an early morning walk in Berkshire, the short film shows her wrapped in a long coat and a dark paisley scarf that first appeared in public in 2007. And the connection could be made soon enough.
Middleton first wore the scarf to the Cheltenham Festival in March 2007, styling it with a brown beret, light blue blazer, brown skirt, and knee-high heeled boots. It was a low-key royal-adjacent outing attended by Princess Anne, her daughter Zara Phillips, and Zara’s then-boyfriend (now-husband), Mike Tindall. At the time, Middleton was still finding her footing under public scrutiny, years away from her engagement to William in Kenya in October 2010 and their wedding at Westminster Abbey the following April.
The Mother Nature series has been a deeply personal, creative reflection on how nature has helped me heal. But it is also a story about the power of nature and creativity in collective healing.
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 9, 2026
There is so much we can learn from mother nature, as we look to build a happier,… pic.twitter.com/yZ3u6yLEe4
Rewearing such a long-held piece fits squarely with Middleton’s approach to fashion. She has repeatedly returned to items from the mid-2000s, including a brown tweed jacket from 2007 that she wore during a visit to Wales with Prince William last year. The scarf also continues a recent run of patterned winter accessories; she wore a similar one on Christmas Day in December.
The footwear in the video may be even older. Kate’s tasseled knee-high boots appear to be the Penelope Chilvers pair she bought in 2004, a design that has become one of her most recognisable staples. Chilvers told PEOPLE in 2023, “I’m delighted that these boots, designed to last a lifetime, have been worn by someone who lives by the same ethos as I do for my brand."
Middleton's habit of rewearing outfits has been on display repeatedly in recent years. At the start of the German State Visit to the UK, she stepped out in the same deep blue Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen coat and Juliette Botterill hat she had worn at Christmas 2023. She made a similar choice in November 2025, when she repeated a houndstooth Emilia Wickstead dress, first seen three years earlier during a visit to Harvard University in Boston.
The pattern extends well beyond formal engagements. Middleton has also returned several times to a cream Self-Portrait dress, wearing it at a Buckingham Palace reception in 2021, at Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee concert in 2022, again for a VE Day 80 concert in 2025, and later that year on Garter Day, which almost reinforces her long-standing preference for familiarity.
