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Carole Middleton appeared at the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday, in what appeared to be her debut at the annual horse race. The mother of the Princess of Wales stepped out in a familiar blue fedora with a brown feather embellishment on the brim. Royal watchers will probably recognize it from Kate Middleton’s hat collection.
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Carole and Michael Middleton (right) with British actor James Nesbitt and TV presenter Natalie Pinkham at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Kate previously wore the fedora, made by British brand Hicks & Brown, on January 5, 2020 for a Sunday service at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate.
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William and Kate in 2020.
Accompanied by her husband, Michael Middleton, Carole also toted a dark Hermès Birkin bag. The outing marks their first public appearance of 2026. The couple most recently attended Kate’s annual Together at Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey in early December.
Today is far from Carole’s first time borrowing from her daughter’s wardrobe; for Royal Ascot in 2022, she stepped out in the exact same pink ME+EM dress worn by Kate.
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Carole in 2022.
The Cheltenham Festival is a popular occasion for the royals. Also in attendance today was Queen Camilla. The Queen a royal patron of The Jockey Club, which was founded in 1750 and is one of the largest commercial horse racing organizations in the United Kingdom. Camilla met with several women equestrian riders, including Grand National winner Rachel Blackmore and Aamilah Aswat, the first black woman to win a jump race in the UK.
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Queen Camilla greets Aamilah Aswat at the Festival.
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Mike and Zara Tindall on day two of the races.
Mike and Zara Tindall are also regulars at the Cheltenham Festival each year. An Olympic silver medalist in equestrian sport in 2012, Zara was appointed to the Cheltenham Racecourse committee by The Jockey Club in 2019. Today, Princess Anne’s daughter Zara went for an burgundy ensemble, carrying a crossbody bag by British luxury label Fairfax & Favor. The mini “elderberry velvet” version is sold out online, but the brand has alternative hues, including black and stone leather.
The four-day event runs through Friday, March 13.
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.