Kate Middleton’s Red Outfit Combined All of Her Fashion Staples: Bows, Rewears and Thoughtful Nods

Kate Middleton just joined the royal family for Commonwealth Day, sending several subtle fashion statements with her regal red ensemble.

The Princess of Wales attended the service at Westminster Abbey on Monday, March 10, alongside her husband Prince William, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. She donned a bold red coat dress by Catherine Walker & Co, pairing the piece with a matching Gina Foster hat and heels.

Princess Kate, 43, is known to recycle outfits, and her Commonwealth Day ensemble was no exception. She’s worn the piece at least twice before, first seen in the festive red in December 2021 at her Royal Carols: Together at Christmas concert, also held at Westminster Abbey.

Kate wore the coat dress again to welcome South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, First Lady Kim Keon Hee, for their official state visit in November 2023.

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One of Princess Kate’s favorite ways to upcycle the looks into something new has been to add a bow, which was also featured on her Commonwealth Day look.

“The bow is the one accessory that she’s repeatedly added, and it’s totally transformed previous outfits into something that looks quite different,” Bethan Holt, fashion director at the Telegraph, told PEOPLE last year.

“I think she is trying a more sustainable way of dressing. She already has a vast and extensive wardrobe, so why shouldn’t she be looking for ways to take existing pieces and re-imagine them?” Holt added. “And a bow is a very democratic, universal way to do that.”

There was also plenty of meaning behind the Princess of Wales’ Commonwealth Day accessories. Her Collingwood drop pearl earrings were a piece beloved by her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, which she received as a wedding gift when she married then-Prince Charles in 1981.

Diana wore the earrings on several notable occasions, including when she paired them with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot tiara during a 1985 dinner at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., the day after her iconic dance with John Travolta.

Princess Kate has worn the same pairing to multiple royal events, and she also reached for the Collingwood earrings for one of her 40th birthday portraits in 2021.

The Princess of Wales also wore a pearl necklace that holds significance to not only Diana but also the late Queen Elizabeth. The four-strand Garrard pearl choker was crafted from pearls reportedly gifted to the Queen by the Japanese government when she visited the country in the 1970s.

Queen Elizabeth notably loaned the necklace to Diana in 1982, when the then-Princess of Wales welcomed Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to a banquet at Buckingham Palace.

Kate has worn the pearl and diamond necklace on several occasions significant to the late monarch. She donned the piece in 2017 to celebrate the diamond wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, as well as at both of their funerals.

Kate’s biggest bejeweled statement, however, may have been the one that royal fans are most familiar with. For the Commonwealth Day celebration, she wore her sapphire engagement ring, also an heirloom from Princess Diana. The Princess of Wales does not always wear the 12-carat opal-cut stunner for public events, sometimes swapping it out for an eternity band.

Princess Kate opted to wear the piece that Prince William proposed with to Westminster Abbey, which was also the site of their 2011 wedding. The couple will celebrate 14 years of marriage next month, and on Monday, their bond was displayed in their shared laugh caught on camera.

The ceremony was the latest sighting of the Prince and Princess of Wales together since Kate returned to life as a working royal following her Jan. 14 announcement that she is in “remission” from cancer.

Following Princess Kate’s news, a source close to the royal household told PEOPLE that seeing their family through the difficulties of the last year together has made the couple “more open” with one another.

Of their public displays of affection, royal biographer Ingrid Seward also noted, “William must feel so fortunate that Kate has come through this that he wants to tell the world about that love. It shows the intimacy of them sharing that journey together.”

“They are able to express themselves in a way they would never have done before,” Seward added.