Kate Middleton steps out at Royal Ascot 2026 in sunny yellow dress

Kate Middleton is back at the races, and in full bloom.

The Princess of Wales, 44, returned to Royal Ascot Wednesday after a two-year absence in a daffodil-yellow dress by Roksanda, the sunny hue a nod to Wales’ national flower for the day’s Prince of Wales Stakes. William matched his wife in a yellow freesia boutonnière.

The princess has worn the dress twice before: arriving in Kingston, Jamaica during the couple’s March 2022 Royal Tour of the Caribbean, then at the Wimbledon women’s singles final that July.

A bespoke JT Millinery Pomelina netted straw hat in a coordinating sherbet shade topped off her look.

She finished her Ascot ensemble with nude suede Gianvito Rossi pumps ($850) and an Anya Hindmarch clutch ($655) with a pearl clasp.

For jewelry, the mother of three wore two royal heirlooms: a three-strand pearl bracelet by British jeweler Nigel Milne, originally owned by her late mother-in-law Princess Diana, and diamond chandelier earrings inherited from the late Queen Elizabeth II.

It was Kate’s second yellow look this week. She also stepped out in a butter-colored coat dress by Patrick McDowell for the Order of the Garter service at Windsor on Monday.

Kate skipped last year’s Ascot — pulling out the day before her scheduled appearance — and missed the 2024 event while undergoing cancer treatment. She announced she was in remission in January 2025.

Wednesday’s daffodil yellow is the boldest color across the princess’ Royal Ascot looks to date. She made her debut in white lace Dolce & Gabbana in 2016 and stuck to red, white and blue in the ensuing years, turning heads in a Diana-inspired polka-dot Alessandra Rich dress in 2022.