Did Kate Middleton just break the fashion rules in the Queen's presence?

(Image credit: Rex)

ICYMI the Duchess of Cambridge unveiled her own garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, a place for families to come together, and in which she paid a subtle tribute to Princess Diana.

She presented her creation to the Queen herself, and wore a lovely floral dress for the occasion. However, her choice of footwear may have broken the royal sartorial rules a little.

Kate wore a pair of wedges, which are one of her favourite style of shoes, and we tend to agree, you can't get comfier or more summer than that.

kate middleton dress

(Image credit: Rex)

However, the Queen isn't a fan, and that's why female members of the royal family tend to avoid this style in her presence.

A source previously told Vanity Fair, 'The Queen isn’t a fan of wedged shoes. She really doesn’t like them and it’s well known among the women in the family.'

Of course, Kate has a right to wear whatever she likes, and I'm sure the monarch isn't that strict.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.