Princess Beatrice's Best Trooping The Colour Looks, Ranked By How Stylish They Were

As far as fashion goes, Princess Beatrice has emerged as a dark horse in the royal family. The niece of King Charles III might not have sold out garments like cousins-in-law Kate Middleton or Meghan Markle, but she's quietly turned up to several events over the years displaying a subdued sartorial prowess. She nearly topped our list of the most unique royal wedding dresses with the gown she borrowed from her granny Queen Elizabeth II, and now we're taking notes on her impressive Trooping the Colour style.

Every June, the royal family gathers to officially celebrate the monarch's birthday with a military parade in London's historic Westminster borough. Trooping the Colour sees senior members of the royal family flocking to the balcony of Buckingham Palace to witness a colorful display from Royal Airforce fighter jets. They also take an open-air carriage ride down the iconic Mall, from the palace to Horse Guard's Parade. Before King Charles made a move to downsize the monarchy upon his coronation in 2023, Beatrice was a frequent attendee as a princess of York. And in the years that she did appear on the palace balcony, she wore quite a few outfits that showed off her unique yet stylish wardrobe. 

As a royal, Princess Beatrice's most inappropriate looks have come about when she experiments with over-the-top or risqué pieces, but she has managed to develop a signature parade style without going down that road. Her chicest looks often utilize color combinations masterfully, pairing together hues that complement and contrast to bring life to otherwise plain outfits. She's also leaned into both trending silhouettes and those that are more classic, balancing sophisticated aesthetics with smaller details that are, only slightly, more edgy and contemporary. Based on this criteria, the following Trooping the Colour looks have made it on our list. 

The color clash of Princess Beatrice's 2012 Trooping the Colour look might be hard to swallow to a modern viewer, but we have to remember that neons were huge in the 2010s. The electric blue and pink combo of her coat dress was certainly a style risk for the princess as far as palace fashion goes, and for pulling that off without becoming inappropriate, we have to applaud her. The Stephen Jones hat combined with the conservative silhouette of the coat brought this look into royal territory, so we have to award style points where they're due.

Chrome isn't one of the typical colors you see grace the Buckingham Palace balcony for the Trooping the Colour event, but we do like what Princess Beatrice did with this Karen Millen belted jacket in 2005. The stiff outerwear contrasted well with the light flouncy skirt beneath, foreshadowing a trend that rose to prominence in the 2020s. Two decades later, Kate Middleton pulled off a similar look for VE Day, pairing a belted blazer with a flowy lace pleated skirt. No matter the era, this silhouette carries an air of styling prowess.

When in doubt, go black and white. The classic color combo always adds an element of sophistication, and you can't have too much sophistication at the monarch's birthday celebration (just look at Queen Camilla's best Trooping the Colour outfits over the years). In 2006, Princess Beatrice brought these statement hues together, rocking a summery white dress with a cropped black jacket, finishing it off with a maximalist white fascinator. While the ensemble was less risky overall (apart from the very loud headgear), it did look smart and put-together in its simplicity. 

Speaking of loud fascinators, Princess Beatrice went all out at Trooping the Colour in 2007. The champagne hat was the perfect accompaniment to her vanilla-toned getup, which featured a summery pleated dress with an empire waist, and a cute cropped jacket with frills at the cuffs. Though the individual pieces of her 'fit weren't exactly the same color, Beatrice served a stylish monochrome moment, thanks to how the different shades of cream worked seamlessly together. 

Trooping the Colour fashion doesn't always translate to style outside the confines of the Firm. While we wouldn't rush to replicate the vintage Suzannah silk dress that Princess Beatrice wore to the military parade in 2015, this look was very fitting for a princess. Beatrice looked stylish in the preppiest way possible by pairing the dove-gray piece with a black tie-up belt and an embellished black headband from Juliette Botterill. Meanwhile, the Peter Pan collar and rolled-up sleeves gave this palace-approved look a touch more personality, marrying classic opulence with style awareness. 

Whether she's going for neons or a monochrome moment, Princess Beatrice has demonstrated a clear understanding of the power of color. Clearly, she doesn't need our tips for infusing more color in your wardrobe! This mastery showed up in 2010, when she wore a blue-toned ensemble to Trooping the Colour, pairing a navy cropped blazer with a blue-and-black dress. She matched the azure base of her dress with a feathery fascinator which also had a few darker feathers, answering the black leaf motif and creating total sartorial cohesion. 

In 2019, Princess Beatrice bat the classic color combo brief right out of the park. She teamed sophisticated shades of black, white, and baby pink, looking stunning on the Buckingham Palace balcony. Most of her dress was pink, save for the edgy woven black cutouts on the sleeves. These worked beautifully with the black Judy Bentinck headpiece, which stood out thanks to its contrast of white florals. Even without the colors doing the heavy lifting here, the dress alone was a stylish choice for the military parade.

Judging by the tartan blanket that's often draped over the knees of the royal family members in their carriages, the weather can still be cold at Trooping the Colour each June. But the sun was shining in 2017, and the summery outfits were out in full force. Princess Beatrice looked super stylish in a warm-weather ensemble consisting of a Ted Baker floral coat teamed with a romantic boater hat. Pastel blue and white were the main colors that gave this 'fit a stylish yet seasonal quality.

Princess Beatrice brought out the neon again in 2016, this time going for a pop of tangerine with her fascinator that contrasted against her navy dress. While not everyone would be able to get away with this color combo, there are a few reasons why this worked so well for Beatrice. The orange in the fascinator looked gorgeous with her strawberry-blond hair, for one. And because the design of the headpiece was quite abstract, she let it steal the limelight, keeping her navy frock simple and effortless. 

Once again, Princess Beatrice served up masterful color-blocking at the 2018 Trooping the Colour, in a look that landed her at the top of our list. Bright cherry red and baby pink go together like PB and jelly, but that's not the only reason we adore this. The simple design of her dress by The Fold was perfect for the bright Sally-Ann Provan pillbox hat, which gave the ensemble a classic, vintage feel. However, the slightly contemporary, lifted design on the front of the hat took something timeless and made it feel more fashion-forward. 

We ranked Princess Beatrice's best Trooping the Colour looks by style, taking into account several elements of criteria. When contemplating style, we considered the fashion trends at the time that the princess wore each look, and weighed these up against more classic and timeless silhouettes, colors, and designs. We awarded style points for intentionality, whether it was in the small details of the outfit, or more often, in its overall color palette. Finally, we took into consideration what would be considered "stylish" by royal family standards, since edgier designs might land beyond the palace walls but would cause a stir at the historic military day parade. Keeping within these parameters, the above looks make up our ranking of Beatrice's most stylish Trooping the Colour looks.