Princess Charlotte breaks royal tradition with bold choice at Wimbledon

Princess Charlotte made a bold style choice as she attended the Wimbledon men’s singles final.

On Sunday, July 13, the 10-year-old joined her brother Prince George, 11, and parents Prince William and Princess Kate in the front row of the Royal Box at Centre Court.

For the outing, the Wales family coordinated in royal blue; the Princess of Wales stunned in a deep blue summer dress while George twinned with his father the Prince of Wales in a dapper blue suit and tie. Charlotte, for her part, wore a light-coloured dress but incorporated blue in her hair with a dainty bow.

However, it was her manicure that caught the eye of royal watchers.

While reacting to a tense moment in the match, the young princess brought up her hands to cover her mouth, showing off the beautiful baby pink nail polish on her hands.

The colour is a departure from the late Queen Elizabeth’s famously neutral manicure preference. Her Majesty reportedly found bright polish distracting and swore by Essie’s pale “Ballet Slippers,” which was the only shade her stylist said she would wear.

While there’s no formal rule against bolder colors, nude tones have long been considered the “practical” choice for working royals. 

“There’s no actual protocol about dark nail polish,” royal author Omid Scobie previously told Harper’s Bazaar. “It’s simply about being appropriate.”

Even Charlotte's aunt, Meghan Markl,e once acknowledged how carefully colour choices are considered. 

“I rarely wore colour,” the Duchess of Sussex said in the 2022 Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan. “I could just blend in. I’m not trying to stand out here.”