Carole Middleton was glowing in a pink ME+EM shirt dress for the first day of Royal Ascot on 14 June, and if the chic dress looks familiar, it's because her daughter the Duchess of Cambridge wore the same one for a very important occasion last year.
Both mother and daughter looked gorgeous in the dress, showing how brilliantly a good shirt dress works for different ages and events.
Kate belted her frock for a smart casual look while carrying out her royal duties, while Carole wore hers loosely tied with a co-ordinating hat and clutch bag, nailing daytime occasionwear for the event's strict dress code.
And this mummy-and-me moment isn't the only thing special about the frock. The Duchess chose the pink dress to keep a promise to a five-year-old named Mila as part of her Hold Still photography competition, after her image was selected as one of the 100 finalists.
Mila's family made the difficult decision to isolate in different households in order to keep the little one protected during the first lockdown in 2020, as she was only four months into her chemotherapy journey for leukaemia at the time.
In a moving phone call the Duchess promised little Mila that they'd meet up one day wearing dresses in Mila's favourite colour pink, deemed by the young girl as fit for princesses...
And in 2021 that promise was kept on a visit to Scotland.
Such a moving moment must have been very touching for Carole to witness between her own little girl, now grown up, and sweet Mila. We're not surprised she bought one of the special dresses for herself, too.
While the dress is no longer on sale, here are some of our favourite shirt dresses for the season.
John Lewis & Partners John Lewis Kimono Sleeve Shirt Dress Light Brown
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