Let’s set the record straight: what the royals wear matters. It might sound frivolous to some, but it does. And we’re not just talking about the die-hard Windsor devotees – of which there are plenty – but it’s a business interest instead. When Kate Middleton steps out in a brand, particularly smaller, British-owned ones which she’s known to do, it genuinely spurs on the economy, safeguards jobs and helps businesses succeed. Why’s that? It’s simple: whatever the royals wear sells out.

The latest news then from Kensington Palace came as a surprise to some, as a source close to the Princess of Wales revealed to the Sunday Times that they ‘will no longer release details of her outfits,’ in a move that stresses Kate’s ‘wish for the focus to be on her work not her wardrobe.’

The source continues that ‘there is an absolute feeling that it [the public work] is not about what the princess is wearing. She wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting. There will always be an appreciation of what the princess is wearing from some of the public and she gets that. But do we need to be officially always saying what she is wearing? No. The style is there but it’s about the substance.’

It is also understood that while Kensington Palace will refrain from releasing wardrobe details on her day-to-day public duties, it will most likely continue to share insights on Kate’s outfits on important public occasions.

So why has this news made the front pages? To put this into context, one has to look at the numbers: according to a report by the UK Fashion and Textile Association and Oxford Economics, the UK fashion and textile industry contributes £62bn to the national economy – that is the equivalent of £1 in every £34 of the country’s total gross value added contribution – and it also support 1.3m jobs, whilst raising more than £23bn in tax revenue every year.

And as the royal expert Hilary Fordwich recently told Fox, ‘to date, she has had a sensational impact on sales as her endorsements by using a product or outfit have already purportedly been valued at approximately £4 billion, or almost $5 billion to the British fashion industry. Her wardrobe choices result in an immediate sales surge.’

In short: what the Princess wears can accelerate the success of a fashion brand – particularly smaller businesses – in a way that marketing campaigns cannot compete with. The ‘Kate effect’ is very real, and has even passed on to her children, George, Charlotte and Louis, who have become mini royal influencers themselves.

Kate’s style (the hardest-working royal often makes the best dressed women in the world lists) is not just a masterclass in modern day royal dressing – elegant, glamorous, understated – but provides a level of comfort that resonates with the public. It strikes a savvy balance between high and low and feels accessible to the rest of us mere mortals. In the past week alone, she’s impressed royal watchers in a £89.99 Zara dress, which she’s already worn several times in previous years, before donning a designer ensemble, comprising of a Petar Petrov chocolate brown blazer and tailored Max Mara trousers.

The decision to no longer shout about the royal wardrobe coincides with King Charles decision to give Kate the ability to grant royal warrants – a royal seal of approval, if you will – onto her favourite brands, which is expected to result in a surge in sales. But for brands who often lend to ‘The Firm’ or sell garments to them at high discounts, losing the constant boost of being named in Kate’s daily wardrobe is a major hinderence. So, why stop something that takes such little effort?

Some have applauded the decision, but others ask – why does her fashion have to be seen as something without substance, that takes away from the causes she’s shouting about? The reality is, whether she shares the details on her wardrobe or not, it won’t stop the conversation around it. Rather, to think that her clothing shouldn’t be a consideration when she’s so public facing is a misjudgment.

Fashion is a powerful tool to draw attention to any cause – and in Kate’s case, the 20 or so charities with which she is associated, certainly benefit from her polished get-up and the press coverage it garners. And given the catastrophic state of the British fashion landscape, it is now more important than ever that the independent brands she wears – Edeline Lee, Emilia Wickstead or Beulah London to name but a few – get the royal push of sales they need to weather a storm of a slowed-down luxury economy and the impending threat of US tariffs.

If the concern is that the publicity around her latest high-street steal might overshadow her charitable work, then one only has to look to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, who attempted a similar strategy.

‘Diana said she didn’t want to be known as a clothes horse but as a workhorse,’ Eleri Lynn, curator of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, told Vogue in 2017. That didn’t pan out. Instead, it attracted more eyeballs the more public she got and instead of revolting against it, she learned to harness the power her wardrobe held, and to point the camera lenses exactly where she wanted them. 30 years on – although we love gushing over picture of the revenge dress or her off-duty outfits – Diana is still feted for her charitable work.

Thanks to the internet, royal sleuths, and social media, what Kate wears will still come to light. Brands have their own communication channels and there are websites dedicated to identifying what any celebrity – including the Princess of Wales – wears, down to the socks. And so, one can only hope that the palace’s latest decision to withhold Kate’s wardrobe news from the wider public will only have minimal impact on the valuable ‘Kate effect’.

One can further hope that bringing good business to the British fashion industry is just as much of an achievement worth noting in the eyes of ‘The Firm’, as all the other commendable work the Princess of Wales adds to her CV. As for the astute shoppers, there might be a 30 minute delay before her latest favourite dress will sell out (good news for those with quick-typing fingers), but it will still sell out. That’s a given.