How Kate Middleton’s ‘princess nails’ have become a trend for summer,
The term ‘princess nails’ has seen a sudden surge in popularity thanks to viral videos on social media platforms like TikTok.
And at the centre of the trend is Gen X’s favourite royal: Kate Middleton.
Hello! Fashion dubbed Kate’s ‘naked nails’ as 2025’s biggest manicure trend after the princess showed off her simple nail colour at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party.
Nail expert Rhianna Van Der Lugt told MailOnline: ‘Over the last couple of weeks, I have had loads of people coming in asking for simple, nude, short nails.
‘A lot of people are going into nail bars and asking for princess nails, and I think this is because everyone just loves how pristine Kate Middleton looks all the time.
‘The princess often goes for a simple nail, which is such a classic look that goes with everything.’
But this glassy, neutral look is nothing new.
While there isn’t a formal, written royal protocol dictating nail polish, there’s a strong tradition of royals favouring natural-looking manicures.
The late Queen Elizabeth was loyal to the iconic Essie nail polish shade of Ballet Slippers. It has been reported the late Queen Elizabeth II found bold polish to be ‘vulgar’.
According to the brand’s website, Queen Elizabeth’s hairdresser sent Essie a letter in 1989 requesting a bottle of the polish, stating that it is ‘the only colour Her Majesty would wear’.
Essie describes the Queen’s choice as a ‘classic pale pink polish’, which is ‘graced with a subtle, sheer finish’.
Many thought that Kate also wore this colour on her wedding day in 2011, but it was later revealed that she opted for a customised blend of two different polishes.
Manicurist Marina Sandoval from the Jo Hansford hair salon in exclusive Mayfair drove to Clarence House to paint both Kate and her mother-in-law Camilla’s nails for the big day, the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English reported at the time.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Marina revealed she blended together a special mixture of colours to apply to Kate’s nails including Bourjois no 28 Rose Lounge and Essie 423 Allure.
‘Catherine wanted something very natural-looking and I felt these matched her skin colour beautifully,’ she explained.
‘She wanted something off-white and bridal, so these were absolutely perfect.’
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline: ‘Members of the Royal Family are encouraged to use neutral, understated colours for their nails.
‘Queen Elizabeth, an arbiter if ever there was one, used pale pink nail polish, a subtle shade which complemented her often colourful outfits.
‘She famously said: “I must be seen to be believed.”‘
Even rule-breaking Meghan Markle wore a nude pink nail polish when she showed off her stunning engagement ring.
Sticking with a chic, understated manicure, Meghan wore CND Shellac to marry her Prince at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018.
Salon DryByLondon revealed they were behind her neutral nails and mixed the shades Unmasked and Negligee together to create the opalescent look, according to British Vogue.
Rhianna, owner of The Code Beauty & Aesthetics, near Horsham, continued: ‘The princess nail look is defined by a shorter nail in general, with a rounded tip, but almost a little bit square at the side. This is defined as squoval.
‘The colours tend to be pale and nude pink.
‘You can get a milky white top coat to go over the top of any colour, and it kind of tones it down a little bit.
‘There doesn’t tend to be any nail art on the top or anything – they’re just very plain and understated.
‘This look goes with any outfit, and you don’t need to worry about whether your colour is going to clash with what you’re wearing.’
For the colour, Rhianna said she likes to use the OPI colour Bubble Bath or the GelBottle shade Teddy, finished with a shiny top coat.
She added that for events like the races or weddings, a simple way to glam up the look without changing the look too much is by adding chrome powder over the top.
How to get ‘princess nails’, according to expert
Prep– According to nail expert Rhianna Van Der Lugt, the key to the perfect princess manicure is good prep on the nails.
‘The look is characterised by short, perfectly prepped, squoval nails with a high shine milky pink’
‘I use cuticle nippers and buff over the nail plate to make sure everything is really clean. This is key to having that perfect-looking and overall pristine nail plate.’
To keep on top of cuticles, use the corner of a towel to push them back after a soak in the bath, followed by a princess-worthy cuticle oil – CND Solar Oil is Rhianna’s go-to choice.
Colour – For the princess look, opt for natural colours like soft, pretty pinks.
Rhianna recommends the GelBottle shades Teddy and Marshmallow or the OPI colour Bubble Bath.
The late Queen’s go-to colour was Essie Ballet Slippers which can be found on the highstreet for less than £10.
Top coat – For the glassy look Kate Middleton is often seen with, a shiny top coat is a must.
Rhianna uses the GelBottle Extreme Shine top coat but there are a variety of high-shine top coats on the highstreet to choose from.
Finishing touches –To complete the look, add a cuticle oil and collagen hand cream to accentuate the clean and polished nails.
‘This trend is timeless and can be adapted to suit any occasion – the key is to keep it soft and subtle.’
Times royal women have ‘broken’ royal protocol with their nails
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh
Thought to be Queen Elizabeth’s ‘favourite’ daughter-in-law, it is surprising Sophie would opt for bold-coloured nails when Her Majesty found them to be ‘vulgar’.
But during a visit to Shooting Star Children’s Hospices in Hampton on February 12, 2020, the Duchess sported a chocolate brown manicure as she decorated biscuits with blue icing.
In the past, the Duchess of Edinburgh has previously worn a fun candy pink varnish to match a floral coat dress from Erdem and a plum colour to tie in with her deep purple jumper.
For her 60th birthday portrait, Sophie opted for a ‘dark, brown nail colour’ to ‘complement both her blackberry-purple turtleneck and the more earthy tones of her green trousers and brown top pairing’, according to the Woman and Home’s digital beauty writer Naomi Jamieson.
She added: ‘In doing so, it creates a sense of cohesion and timelessness, whilst remaining very subtle.’
Diana, Princess of Wales
To attend a performance of the English National Ballet, of which she was the patron, at the Opera House in Budapest, Hungary, in 1992, Princess Diana looked radiant in a the Spencer Family’s tiara, an off-shoulder red dress and matching scarlet nails.
Earlier photos of Princess Diana show that the royal did not often sport nail polish and this may have been down to her tendency to bite her nails.
After kicking the habit, she slowly regained the confidence to paint her nails in bold colours.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Diana’s hairstylist Sam McKnight talked abut her cover shoot for Vogue in 1991.
McKnight said: ‘She had just stopped biting her nails and was so proud of how they looked!’
Most memorably, Diana, Princess of Wales, stepped out in the ‘revenge dress’ at the Serpentine Gallery on June 29, 1994, pairing the off-the-shoulder Christina Stambolian design with red nails.
As Stambolian would later write: ‘She was clearly angry… She wore bright red nail enamel, which we had never seen her do before. She was saying: “Let’s be wicked tonight.”‘
Diana repeated the striking red manicure during a visit to the Mortimer Market Centre – a service for HIV/AIDS sufferers London on December 1, 1994.
And once again while attending a gala evening in aid of Cancer Research at Bridgewater House in London in 1995.
Princess Eugenie
Shaking up royal beauty trends, Princess Eugenie is a fan of quirky nail art.
During her grandmother’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant on June 5, 2022, the royal was spotted holding her son August Brooksbank in the royal box.
With her hands clasped around his sweet Union Jack jumper, her perfectly manicured nails featured a red French tip.
Even before she was a mother, Eugenie wore bold red polish to Trooping the Colour in 2017 as she rode in a carriage alongside her sister Beatrice and father Prince Andrew.
And she commanded attention with her unmissable Union Jack painted nails at the Investec Derby Festival back in 2012.
The patriotic manicure was a nod to the London Summer Olympics which were taking place at the time.
Zara Tindall
As the daughter of strong-willed Princess Anne, Zara Tindall is unafraid to push the boundaries of royal style.
The former Olympian turned heads in an all-black ensemble at a film premiere in 2015 with heavy black eyeliner and a vampy dark manicure to match. She opted for the same dark colour when attending the Cheltenham Festival on December 13, 2019.
But the state of her nails was the last thing on Zara’s mind when she competed in the Festival of British Eventing on August 5, 2023.
The mother-of-three was seen participating in one of the jumping competitions which takes place on the Princess Royal’s estate in Gloucester but her teal blue manicure looked worse for wear.
Fitzwilliams, commenting on royal manicures, said: ‘Generally the intention is obviously to be stylish without drawing attention to nail colours.
‘Exceptions are few, but, when they happen, as with everything royal that is unusual, they can cause a stir.’
