Princess Anne Pulls From Her Extensive Fashion Archive and Wears 42-Year-Old Dress to Royal Engagement
Princess Anne Pulls From Her Extensive Fashion Archive and Wears 42-Year-Old Dress to Royal Engagement
Rachel BurchfieldMon, June 29, 2026 at 1:12 PM UTC
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Princess Anne at Royal Ascot on June 17, 2026.Credit: GettyThe Gist -
Princess Anne has become known as the “queen of recycling” when it comes to her style choices.
The Princess Royal has an extensive fashion archive to choose from—with the 75-year-old sometimes pulling pieces from as far back as when she was a teenager.
For a royal engagement on June 25, the daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip wore a dress from a trip to Gambia all the way back in 1984—42 years ago.
Princess Anne has an extensive fashion archive, and she definitely isn’t afraid to dip into it.
The Princess Royal brought out a 42-year-old dress for the Centenary Banquet of the Honorable Company of Master Mariners at London’s Guildhall alongside her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, on June 25. For the occasion, Anne wore a sheer yellow short-sleeved dress with a pink rose print and a cape detail, adding to the look with white gloves and a pair of matching heels.
Princess Anne wearing the dress in Gambia in 1984.Credit: Getty
Per Hello!, Anne initially wore the same gown on a trip to Gambia back in 1984, where she visited on behalf of her work as patron with Save the Children U.K. When she wore the dress 42 years ago, she paired it with a statement gold necklace and matching earrings.
The Princess Royal has become known as the “queen of recycling,” as she often rewears outfits from the past. Case in point? At the June 6 royal wedding of her son, Peter Phillips, to Harriet Sperling, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip wore the same butter yellow hat she wore to her daughter Zara Tindall’s christening in 1981, 45 years ago.
Princess Anne rewearing a hat to Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling's wedding on June 6, 2026 that she'd originally worn in 1981.Credit: Getty
Attending Royal Ascot this year, Anne wore a pale pink suit that Hello! reported she’d worn to the same event in 2001—25 years ago. She also wore the outfit to a wedding in 2016. “Despite being the king’s sister, Anne appears to rarely buy new clothes, instead looking to rewear good quality items from the past,” the outlet reported—including, at 75, sometimes wearing items she wore in her teenage years and her 20s. In March, she wore a floor length coat to the Nigerian state banquet a full 57 years after she initially wore it as a teenager in 1969.
“A good suit goes on forever,” Anne previously said of her style choices. “If it is properly made and has a classic look, you can wear it ad infinitum. The economy was bred into me.”
Princess Anne rewearing a coat from her teenage years on March 18, 2026.Credit: Getty
Royal fashion commentator Simon Glazin previously told The Mirror of Anne, “What I love about her is it seems she is a bit oblivious that she is a fashion icon. Or if she does know, it is a genius move.”
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“Definitely back in the 1970s, she wore some incredible stuff,” Glazin continued. “The ‘70s was definitely her era, but what is interesting about Princess Anne is that she will bring something back from the ‘70s and wear it now.”
The Telegraph said the Princess Royal is “forever the queen of regal recycling,” and the anonymous founder behind the popular Instagram account Royal Fashion Police told the outlet that her “style is timeless, practical, and very true to herself, reflecting her personality—confident, sensible, and a bit unique, making her stand out in the royal family.” As such, Anne has become “an unexpected style icon.”
Princess Anne rewearing an outfit at Royal Ascot on June 17, 2026 that she'd originally worn in 2001.Credit: Getty
“She likes classic tailoring, bold patterns, bright colors, and often rewears outfits she has had for decades, showing her support for sustainability before it became a trend,” Royal Fashion Police added.
Anne’s style has crossed over into high fashion—in January 2024, the designer Silvia Venturini Fendi said that the Princess Royal was on her mood board for the fall/winter 2025 Fendi menswear collection, calling Anne “the chicest woman in the world” and nodded to her ability to “underline garments for life, not use and throw away.”
“I think the interest in Anne’s style is rooted in a quest for authenticity,” royal fashion commentator Rosie Harte told The Telegraph. The author of The Royal Wardrobe added, “As we’ve come to think more critically about our clothes and how we interact with fashion as consumers, there’s been a real push to find your ‘personal style,’ something that, like Anne’s wardrobe, is lived in, not curated.”
Princess Anne at Royal Ascot on June 18, 2026.Credit: Getty
“Her no-nonsense approach to fashion is no doubt genuine, but probably emphasized to complement her role as the hardest working royal in the family,” Harte continued. “That’s a lot of time and effort, and she’s keen to send the message that she spends that time focusing on the details of the visit and not just optics, shifting the focus away from her as an individual and towards the cause.”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
