Princess Beatrice’s ‘risque’ dress ‘encouraged’ by Queen Elizabeth

In June 2017, Princess Beatrice shocked the world when she arrived at the V&A Summer party wearing a see-through Self-Portrait dress.

The Self-Portrait Yoke Frill Dress in Navy is no longer available to buy, although it originally retailed for £350.

Fans are in luck though, because this dress is still available to rent from Hurr for £66.93 for four days.

Kate, Princess of Wales once rented a dress from Hurr for her husband’s Earthshot Prize Awards in Boston in 2022.

Princess Beatrice’s Self-Portrait dress is a woven dress, with perforated mesh throughout.

Danielle Rogers-Clark, a prominent style expert from Give Good Dress exclusively told Express.co.uk: “Wearing this chic and super stylish sheer lace panelled dress, a slightly risqué choice for a royal, Princess Beatrice was deemed by Vogue to be one of the best dressed at the event that she attended with her sister Princess Eugenie.

“The dress was a huge style success, it sold out instantly and even high street retailer Topshop quickly produced a more affordable ‘dupe’ of the dress, which was high fashion praise indeed.

“This look kicked off the start of a real style evolution for Beatrice, now working with a stylist, she has truly found her sartorial elegance.

“Frequently seen showcasing contemporary designer dresses by brands such as Self Portrait, The Vampire’s Wife and Alexander McQueen, Beatrice is not afraid to experiment with her style, but her outfits always flatter her silhouette and colouring perfectly.”

Ms Rogers-Clark explained whether Princess Kate or Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh would be able to get away with wearing a risqué dress like this, seeing as they are working royals.

She claimed: “Kate, Princess Of Wales is also known to be a huge fan of Self-Portrait. She was recently photographed (alongside First Lady Jill Biden) wearing an utterly gorgeous, very fitting royal blue dress from the label to a pre-Coronation event held at Buckingham Palace.

“However, slightly more demure in her Princess style, Kate opted to remove the daring leg split detail from the dress for the historical event.

“Meanwhile Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh favours polished and elegant dresses by Susannah London, Alaia and Emilia Wickstead.

“Although Sophie has recently adopted a more vibrant colour palette, as working royals, both she and Kate are much more governed and bound by royal dressing protocol than Princess Beatrice.

“As a non-working royal, she has the freedom to get away with wearing much more adventurous and revealing pieces.”

Ms Rogers-Clark explained what this dress says about Princess Beatrice’s personality.

She opined: “It is amazing to see Princess Beatrice’s vivacious and confident personality shine through in her stylistic fashion choices.

“As the late Queen’s granddaughter, the sheer detail of the navy dress revealed the nude slip worn underneath. One may have considered this see-through choice somewhat inappropriate.

“In my opinion, this speaks volumes of the Queen and Princess Beatrice’s relationship – we know they were incredibly close.

“So I would like to think that perhaps Queen Elizabeth encouraged her young granddaughter to wear whatever she felt confident and happy in!

“Not forgetting that Beatrice famously had the honour of wearing her grandmother’s dazzling vintage diamante encrusted Norman Hartnell gown as her wedding dress. I believe the late Queen very much approved and admired Beatrice’s style evolution!”