Royal style: 5 times Kate Middleton and Denmark's Princess Mary have dressed identically

Britain's Duchess of Cambridge is preparing to travel to Denmark this week for a solo overseas visit to the European country.

As well as keeping an eye on Kate Middleton's style during her two-day visit, royal watchers will be looking out for twinning opportunities with Denmark's Crown Princess Mary.

The two are notably similar — they both married into their respective royal families and are in line to be queen consort, and have slim frames, athletic interests and long brown hair.

Whether its exact replicas, or the same pieces in different colourways, the two royals have complimentary fashion sense, which means the Duchess of Cambridge's trip to Copenhagen looks set to be a style sensation when she steps out with her Australian-born Danish counterpart, Princess Mary.

Whether its for informal engagements, or black tie events that call for formal eveningwear, the two royals have stepped out in very similar outfits.

They are so similar, in fact, that late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld once described them as “royal sisters”.

For a photoshoot to accompany a Financial Times profile released earlier this month, Princess Mary wore a champagne-coloured Jenny Packham gown. The Duchess of Cambridge has worn the emerald green version of the same dress on two notable occasions — once during an official visit to Pakistan in 2019 and the second time for a Royal Variety Performance on November 18, 2021.

They have also been known to wear the exact same dresses, styled a little differently, of course. They have each worn blue floral-print shirt dresses by ethical brand, Beulah London. Princess Mary first wore the piece during a visit to Indonesia in December 2019, while the duchess wore the informal piece to visit Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn as part of the NHS birthday celebrations on July 5, 2020.

Why do the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Mary dress so similarly?

There is, of course, no exact answer when it comes to analysing the style crossover between the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Mary.

The duo don't share a stylist, but they do, in a sense, share a job. While a working royal doesn't have a uniform, there certainly is a dress code that should be adhered to for official engagements, which will explain why the royals, and their stylists, are drawn to conservative but colourful pieces, which are cut below their knees, with shoulders covered, long sleeves and higher necklines.