Ritu Kumar’s association with the British royalty dates back to the 1990’s when Princess Diana patronised her store at South Audley in London. Mrs Kumar reminisces that Diana was a very private person and cut out the protocol involved with her shopping and enjoyed an intimate experience at the store. The princess gracefully informed the store that she would prefer to keep the visit low key and requested the access to the store to be limited. She would cycle to the store, park at Mayfair and walk the few minutes to the showroom, said Ritu Kumar.
Diana adorned an Indian outfit for her trip to Lahore accompanying Imran & Jemima Khan, a picture of which subsequently appeared in a magazine in London. Unfortunately, she passed away before she had a chance to wear the rest of the exclusive Ritu Kumar outfits designed for her.
When probed on her suggestions on Kate’s outfits for this royal tour, Ritu Kumar stated, “The Duchess of Cambridge is a graceful, beautiful lady. Though I have no doubts that she will look gorgeous while in India, it’ll be so appropriate to see her in a similar blue outfit worn by her late mother-in-law, years ago. When visiting the Taj, a blue kurta with a churidaar and long dupatta will be a bit more modern and will complement the Duchess’ sartorial sense versus the classic Salwar worn by the late Princess.”
