Kate Middleton's Home With Prince William Follows Bold Royal Design Trend

May 26, 2021

In 2018, Kate Middleton helped launch the Nursing Now campaign, an effort to raise the status of nurses around the world in order to improve health outcomes and greater investment in the profession. That campaign, of which Middleton was the royal patron, ends in May 2021. To celebrate the work the organization has accomplished after three years and thank nurses for their life-saving work during the coronavirus pandemic, Middleton, the campaign’s royal patron, took to YouTube on May 24 to upload a heartfelt video message.

The duchess wore a white Alexander McQueen peplum skirt suit along with a diamond pendant for the thank-you video, which has since accumulated more than 100,000 views since it was posted.

One aspect that commentators and royal experts seem to have ignored is that the video also reveals much about Kate’s home and its interior design. Kate and her husband Prince William, who live at Kensington Palace in London with their three children, tastefully decorated the room where the duchess filmed the video with an uncommon burnt orange color theme. Whereas most associate the royal family with reds, blues and golds — the colors of British royalty — the Cambridges’ living room is full of autumnal colors: oranges, greens and browns. This pairs nicely, as you can see in the video below, with the duchess’ white outfit, which is in stark contrast to the fall-inspired decor. It turns out, however, that this design isn’t so unique when it comes to others in the royal family, such as Princess Beatrice and Princess Anne’s homes. 

This move away from classic colors to burnt orange might even be called a trend given the many examples we’ve seen from various members of the royal family.

A look inside Beatrice’s home — made possible thanks to a video call she made from her St. James Palace residence in 2020 — shows that the walls have been painted orange. The orange walls echo the design of Kate’s living room, in which we see two orange cushions that add a splash of autumnal color to the fall-themed environment.

Similarly, one of Anne’s 70th birthday portraits shows the royal standing in front of a staircase, which is flanked by dark orange walls at her Gatcombe Park home. Again, we can see a similar color scheme featured at Kate’s home in the Nursing Now campaign video, which was published in May 2021. Regardless of whether this is a trend or merely a series of coincidences, these home videos do give fans an exclusive look into the royal family’s homes. But the focus of Kate’s video was, of course, on the many nurses that the campaign has helped over its three-year run.

"Although we can't be together in person at this closing of the Nursing Now campaign, I wanted to say a huge congratulations to the incredible work that you've done over the last three years," Kate says in the video’s opening.

"When Nursing Now was launched in 2018, we had no way of knowing just how much the work dedication and infinite care of nurses would be tested, needed, and appreciated.”

The duchess went on to underscore the importance of nurses who saved lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

“COVID-19 has highlighted the vital role that nurses provide, which we all rely on," she continues. "And it's made all the more extraordinary when we consider the huge sacrifices and personal demands that have been placed on all of you by the pandemic."

"It has been the hardest of years and my heartfelt thanks to you and your colleagues around the world for the incredible work you do every day," she adds. "This short film shows some of the amazing work that Nursing Now has been doing over the last three years to develop the confidence, training and leadership potential of over 30,000 nurses and midwives worldwide."

Although the Nursing Now campaign ends this month, the organization writes on their website that they will be continuing the fight for the profession’s recognition “through the Nursing Now Challenge and through the on-going work of its group network.”

According to a Feb. 1 press release from Nursing Now, the Nursing Now Challenge is a continuation of the Nightingale Challenge, which “will work with health employers around the world to create leadership development opportunities for 100,000 nurses and midwives in more than 150 countries by the end of 2022.”

While Kate might have concluded her role as the initiative’s patron, she and William have made a name for themselves as international philanthropists. Through the Royal Foundation, the duke and duchess have supported a number of campaigns in the realms of conversation, mental health and early childhood education.

What do you think of this move away from classic royal colors to burnt orange? Do you think there’s really a trend, or are these similarities merely coincidences? Let us know what you think. And don’t forget to pass this story on to friends and family members.