Kate’s style Olympics! Does anyone on Earth look better in sportswear? No, says LAURA CRAIK

When it comes to fashion, the Princess of Wales likes to keep abreast of current trends. While it would be inaccurate to say that she is ahead of the curve, her enthusiastic patronage of creative, contemporary British labels including Roksanda, Erdem and her beloved Alexander McQueen prove she is certainly not behind it.

But there is one facet of her style that does, in fact, lag behind the rest of the country’s — and that’s her propensity to dress too formally for day. While Kate’s favoured downtime look is a ‘business casual’ mix of skinny jeans, tailored jacket and a Breton tee, the rest of us gave up on such formalities ages ago.

Long before Covid, British women ditched trousers for Lycra leggings, while you could barely prise the trainers off their feet, be they serious running shoes by Nike or Hoka or less performance-based iterations by Veja, every middle-class mum’s favourite brand.

And while we may no longer all be working from home, you would never know it from our attire. At school gates all across the country, the ‘just off to the gym’ look is still very much the thing to be seen in — even if the wearer plans to do nothing more strenuous than raise a latte to her lips. Which is why it’s so gladdening to see Kate embracing a sportier look. For if anyone looks good in sportswear, it is she.

Kate is That Girl: the lean, strong and athletic one we all recognise from our school days, the annoyingly perfect one who shone with vitality like the gold cup she invariably held aloft at Sports Day after winning the 100m sprint.

Kate’s favoured downtime look is a ‘business casual’ mix of skinny jeans, tailored jacket and a Breton tee

Kate is That Girl: the lean, strong and athletic one we all recognise from our school days, the annoyingly perfect one who shone with vitality like the gold cup she invariably held aloft at Sports Day after winning the 100m sprint

She excels at all athletic pursuits, being as comfortable with abseiling as she is with archery, and as proficient at tennis as she is at tug-of-war.

While most of us would freeze in horror if we had to perform any sporting activity in front of a camera, so confident is Kate that she barely breaks a sweat. Woe betide those pitted against her in the mother’s race.

While nobody is suggesting she should wear leggings every day like so many other 41-year-old mothers of three, we’re all for encouraging her enthusiasm for sportswear. She suits it. She belongs in it.

She rarely looks happier than when she’s wearing it.

When she does, she more often than not looks effortlessly fashionable — a modern princess who can dress down with as much aplomb as she can dress up.

Here, we hand out medals for her best sport-style achievements . . .

BRONZE – Not her best but nice try

For most people, there is nothing at all funny about descending a near-vertical slope secured only by a rope and harness — but to judge from her smile in 2015, Sporty Kate finds abseiling rather hilarious.

While the shiny red hooded jacket, brown hiking boots and black skinny jeans are not her most convincing look, you can’t fault her enthusiasm

In her white PlayBrave jacket and Monreal joggers on a 2018 visit to the Lawn Tennis Association in Wimbledon she looks every inch the school-run mum

While the shiny red hooded jacket, brown hiking boots and black skinny jeans are not her most convincing look, you can’t fault her enthusiasm. In fact, she is arguably at her most authentic when she looks as if she has simply thrown on the first sportswear that has come to hand.

Meanwhile, in her white PlayBrave jacket and Monreal joggers on a 2018 visit to the Lawn Tennis Association in Wimbledon she looks every inch the school-run mum.

SILVER – Now that’s more like it . . .

It’s difficult — some would say impossible — to look glamorous in a wetsuit, but Kate managed it in July last year, donning a black O’Shea wetsuit, black Adidas trainers and a grey Henri-Lloyd cap for a race in Plymouth, cannily removing the hoop earrings (and priceless engagement ring) she had been wearing.

In 2012, she teamed a grey hoodie with red trousers for a hockey match with the British Olympic squad

It’s difficult — some would say impossible — to look glamorous in a wetsuit, but Kate managed it in July last year, donning a black O’Shea wetsuit, black Adidas trainers and a grey Henri-Lloyd cap for a race in Plymouth

She also wins a silver for her skiwear, most notably her white jacket, first worn in Courchevel in 2010, and seen again last year

On a training day at London’s Olympic Park in 2017, she wore a £400 red down jacket by Perfect Moment, the skiwear brand founded in Chamonix, France, and a yummy mummy favourite

She also wins a silver for her skiwear, most notably her white jacket, first worn in Courchevel in 2010, and seen again last year. By now-defunct British ski brand E And O, it sparked a trend for white jackets on the piste. We love that she wore bright red salopettes with it. In fact, red is one of Kate’s favourite colours to wear for sport.

On a training day at London’s Olympic Park in 2017, she wore a £400 red down jacket by Perfect Moment, the skiwear brand founded in Chamonix, France, and a yummy mummy favourite.

And in 2012, she teamed a grey hoodie with red trousers for a hockey match with the British Olympic squad.

As befits someone who was captain of her school hockey team, she more than held her own.

GOLD – Every inch a sporty winner

Impromptu rugby match? That’s no problem for Sporty Kate.

On Wednesday morning, she hit the pitch at Maidenhead Rugby Club in a baby blue England T-shirt paired with an £85 pair of sporty cropped navy blue trousers by Sweaty Betty and pristine white Lululemon trainers, £128.

On Wednesday morning, she hit the pitch at Maidenhead Rugby Club in a baby blue England T-shirt paired with an £85 pair of sporty cropped navy blue trousers by Sweaty Betty and pristine white Lululemon trainers, £12

Last year, bounding on to the pitch at the City of Derry Rugby Club in Northern Ireland, she looked equally ready for the scrum in a black zip-up Lululemon top, worn with discreet hoops and minimal jewellery

Kate also wins a gold for the tennis outfit she wore in 2021 during a friendly game with Emma Raducanu

As she took part in practice drills, her ponytail was as bouncy as her demeanour.

Last year, bounding on to the pitch at the City of Derry Rugby Club in Northern Ireland, she looked equally ready for the scrum in a black zip-up Lululemon top, worn with discreet hoops and minimal jewellery.

Kate also wins a gold for the tennis outfit she wore in 2021 during a friendly game with Emma Raducanu. Her black zip-up top (£90) and matching black tennis skirt with white insets (£65), both by the premium French sportswear brand Poivre Blanc, looked elegantly monochrome.