Why Princess Anne is our fashion queen
As the hard-working royal celebrates her 70th birthday today, two well known NI faces tell Stephanie Bell why they admire her thrifty sense of style and dedication to duty
The Queen’s daughter, born on this very date in 1950, is renowned for her charity work and patronage of more than 200 organisations. She is often referred to as the hardest working royal, clocking up impressive mileage each year to carry out engagements in her much loved no-nonsense and genial manner.
Princess Anne is also well known for her style, and her prudent approach in often wearing the same outfits decades apart has won her legions of fans. er.it’s something that radio and TV presenter Wendy Austin (68) admires — she, too, cherishes items in her wardrobe which date back to the Fifties and which belonged to her late grandmoth
The broadcast journalist has always appreciated classic style but is not keen on designer labels.
Being in the public eye through working on TV and hosting local events means that Wendy has to keep an eye on style but, like Princess Anne, she is happy to re-wear pieces she loves and feels comfortable in.
She has two very special items in her wardrobe which belonged to her late grandmother Molly Austin, who died in 1988 aged 106.
“I have a black lace evening dress which belonged to my Granny Austin who ran Austin’s department store in Londonderry,” she says.
“Granny Austin was a lady who loved her fashion and kept herself very smart.
“I also have a lovely black coat that was hers. I do remember her wearing her black lace evening dress on special occasions such as Christmas Day when she would have appeared in it with a black lace jacket and pearls.
“The dress has black lace and chiffon panels and I have worn it to a few events and ceremonies over the years. I think it dates from the Fifties or Sixties.
“I also have a black coat which was hers and which I still love to wear. Neither has labels so I think she got them made especially for her.
“The coat is knee length and is made from the most beautiful material and has a swing shape with batwing sleeves.
“I would wear it a lot in the winter and it is one of those pieces that makes you feel good when you put it on.
“It’s a lovely item and it’s very nice to have something to wear that your granny wore.”
Belfast-born Wendy, who is married to Frank Hewitt and has three children and three grandchildren, retired last year after 44 years with the BBC.
She worked on Good Morning Ulster and in the last five years of her career she presented Inside Business on Radio Ulster.
Being in the public eye, making TV programmes and hosting big events, has meant that she has had to keep an eye on her wardrobe.
Although not a slave to fashion, she enjoys wearing stylish clothes and parshe ticularly loves bright colours. Another of her favourite items is a Gok Wan multicoloured jacket she bought in Sainsbury’s 10 years ago for £30.
Wendy wore it recently when she presented a podcast for business students at Ulster University.
“I wore it when I covered the results of the European elections six years ago and also during one of my podcasts a couple of weeks ago,” she says.
“It is a short, round neck jacket, edged in silk with a lovely pattern of greens, blues and browns and it goes with everything.
“It is one of those items you can put on with jeans and feel smart and, particularly now with Zoom calls, it adds a bit of colour to your top half and is perfect for that.”
Wendy doesn’t buy designer labels and says she admires Princess Anne for being able to still look good in clothes she first wore in the Seventies.
“I’m not into brands or labels and always tried to avoid that,” she admits.
“With working on television I didn’t want to wear things that were identifiable. Also, I tend to go for things which are not too patterned as that tends to dance on the screen.
“I like bright colours and I think Anne is very much her own woman when it comes to fashion.
“She is known for wearing things time and time again and for not being a clothes horse. I think if you have something you like and it still fits, then why not wear it?”
A hard worker all her life, both at work and at home, Wendy also admires the Princess Royal’s work ethic.
She tells a story which, for her, neatly sums Anne up.
“I was making a TV documentary about Hillsborough Castle and the late David Anderson, who managed the castle and was a dear friend, was showing me round,” she says.
“He was a huge help and good fun, and was notoriously but gently indiscreet about some things.
“We were looking at the visitors’ book on the table in the hallway and he mentioned that when Prince Charles had recently visited, he really had a lot of people with him while in contrast Princess Anne had arrived pretty much on her own with a bag.
“She is great — she just gets on with it and is fairly grounded, if that’s possible in her situation.
“She works enormously hard. I’m not that far behind her in years and I think work keeps you going, it keeps you alive and alert and makes all the difference.”
Glamorous UTV presenter Pamela Ballantine (61) has always held on to classic outfits but when she realised she could no longer fit into some of her favourites she donated them to the Ulster Museum.
Pamela is known for her love of shoes and has a whole room dedicated to a collection dating back 40 years and which she still enjoys wearing today.
As presenter of UTV Life, she set herself a challenge to wear a different pair of shoes for all 20 episodes of the new series ... which turned into 44 weeks of shows — and she achieved it.
When it comes to clothes she says she is a savvy shopper who likes a bargain and isn’t afraid to pick up classic pieces in charity shops.
“I do like good labels but I only buy them in the charity shops,” she reveals.
“I love a bargain and I love going to outlets to shop. I have picked up a couple of Ralph Lauren evening dresses in outlet stores which I’ve worn to many functions.
“I had some outfits which I have worn over the years from the Eighties until I couldn’t fit in them anymore, and I recently donated them to the Ulster Museum.
“My mum bought beautiful silk fabric on a trip to Hong Kong many years ago and I got two outfits made from them by the well known local designer Kathryn Morrison.
“One was a two-piece in kingfisher blue with a Bardot style off-the-shoulder jacket which was made to look like a dress.
“I have worn it to my cousin’s wedding and to the races and I kept re-wearing it up until 2000 when I could no longer fit into it. It would be bang ontrend now and I would still be wearing it if it fitted me. I love the off-the-shoulder look as your shoulders never age!
“I had a beautiful pink dress which was made from silk that my had mum bought. It was a sequinned two-piece with a long sleeved jacket with big gold buttons down the front.