Kate Middleton loves to mix up her fashion choices with a red tartan. This fabric with plaid patterns is usually associated with Scottish clans and it's no coincidence when the Duchess of Cambridge dresses in a tartan during her royal engagements.
In a recent video appearance, Kate wore a red tartan dress designed by Emilia Wickstead to honor Dundee, Scotland's NHS Tayside workers during Burns Night. The event is a celebration of the work of the Scottish poet Robert Burns.
According to People, it's traditionally not a practice to wear the red plaid fabric outside of the month of December. However, the magazine's Senior Style Editor, Brittany Talarico, said Kate still made it work and she looked appropriate with her style choice.
In December 2020, Kate was also seen wearing a red tartan scarf over her red Alexander McQueen coat dress for her Royal Train Tour with Prince William. The couple was headed to Edinburgh in Scotland to check up on various frontliners and to express their personal gratitude for their hard work and sacrifices.
The same patterned scarf matched the tartan skirt she was wearing underneath her coat. She first publicly wore this skirt during a 2018 Christmas party at Kensington Palace for the military kids.
For Christmas 2019, Kate was seen with her husband and kids as they drove to Buckingham Palace for the Queen's annual Christmas lunch. The Duchess of Cambridge had on a red tartan top.
In her early years as a working royal, Kate would accessorize with a tartan clutch bag to match her red dresses.
Kate doesn't have Scottish ancestry since her family roots are mostly Irish. According to Tourism Ireland, the Duchess of Cambridge is descended from the Lupton and the Fitzmaurice family in Co Kerry. Her anscestors are linked to the first High King of Ireland and she has Irish warrior blood running through in her veins as well. Apparently, these warriors fought the Vikings during the Battle of Clontarf.
However, Kate did spend her college years at Scotland's St. Andrews University, where she met William. When she married into the royal family, she became the Countess of Strathearn, her official title in Scotland, while William became the Earl of Strathearn. The future King of the United Kingdom has Scottish ancestry in both sides of his family as Prince Charles is a descendant of the King of Scots, Robert II, while Princess Diana's grandmother is pure Scottish.
