The 2025 Festival of Remembrance called for formal simplicity, and Kate Middleton answered with a black-and-white Alessandra Rich peplum dress from the spring 2025 collection — a clean, structured silhouette built on crepe, lace trim and a pointed collar.

Middleton appeared alongside her son Prince George at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Saturday in the designer’s Envers Lace and Mikado-trimmed Crepe de Chine Peplum Midi Dress, a black crepe design with a white pointed collar, a flowy peplum waist and a matching skirt that hit just above the ankle. The dress retained Rich’s signature controlled construction, seen in the fitted bodice and defined waist seam that divided the upper and lower halves of the silhouette.

Middleton kept the accessories in a single material register. She carried the Mulberry Bayswater clutch in black suede and wore Gianvito Rossi 105 pumps in black suede, emphasizing the uninterrupted monochrome line beneath the hem. Jewelry was drawn from the royal vault: the Bahrain pearl earrings once worn by Queen Elizabeth II and the James Porter & Sons diamond thistle brooch, which she debuted back in May.

The Alessandra Rich selection maintains Middleton’s pattern of using the label for historically framed appearances. In May, she wore a black-and-white polka-dot Rich midi for the VE Day 80th anniversary service at Westminster Abbey, and in September selected a tartan-collared Rich dress for a Women’s Institute visit in Berkshire.

The look differed from the earth-toned Barbour and tweed pieces Middleton wore during the Waleses’ mid-October visit to Northern Ireland, where she chose layered separates in green and brown.

The 2025 Festival of Remembrance marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. The Princess of Wales joined other royals at the Royal Albert Hall for the annual program of readings, musical tributes and a formal moment of silence for British and Commonwealth service members.