Am I alone in worrying that Kate’s clothes are turning Camilla-ish?

Sometimes, i wonder if i am being too harsh about William and Kate. is it just me? Do i expect too much? should we leave these uninteresting young people to go about their taxpayer-funded business without comment or criticism?

then i get a letter from a reader that encapsulates exactly how i feel. Like this one from Connie Wilson, who is, just like me, a royalist with issues, but considering the issue from a very different perspective.

she writes: ‘i have been a subscriber to the mail for over 60 years and am now aged 88. i empathise with most of your opinions so am wondering if you can help me with my problem, which is that i just don’t understand the fashions that some people find acceptable nowadays — or the prices they are willing to pay for them.

‘For instance, in Wednesday’s mail, the Duchess of Cambridge was wearing the most appalling erdem silk dress, price nearly £2,000. even worse, it almost matched the hideous carpet she was standing on. it reminded me of when Julie Andrews pulled down the curtains in the sound of music to make play-clothes for the children.

‘on the same page, Kate was shown wearing a very smart, £3,000 Burberry coat. i bought my youngest daughter an almost identical coat at Christmas from the Joe Brown catalogue, which cost less than a third of the price.

‘even more worrying was another erdem dress in thursday’s mail, which would be more suitable on someone my age. Are these clothes provided by a stylist? surely someone as shapely and beautiful as Kate could make better choices herself.

‘Jan, it really is time to speak out against these appalling styles. the Duchess is on tour to represent us — but she might as well be wearing a black plastic sack!

‘What can be done?’

Formy part, i certainly can’t argue with this excellent style digest of William and Kate’s official visit to sweden and Norway.

my favourite pair of Premier inn royals trundled around stockholm and oslo looking like they had dived into the bargain bin of a seventies charity shop and fought over the polyester hand-me-downs at the bottom of the pile.

Dodgy fur, foul prints, murky colours, glum expressions, Queen mum shoes — what was going on?

even by their own dire standards, this was a new low for the Duke and Duchess of Frump, who seem to have taken it upon themselves to dress exactly like Charles and Camilla, but only worse, right down to Kate’s boots and Cossack hat.

Why are they so old before their time, so darned middleaged and dull?

to be fair, the Duchess is seven months pregnant.

Wearing something flattering and impressive to have drinkies with Crown Prince Wotsisname and Crown Princess thingy must be last on her list of favourite things to do. Did she even look at those erdem dresses before they were packed?

Perhaps she thought the frilly blue velvet one was a travel rug. And that weird, mustardy full-length granny wrapper seemed so far removed from her usual minimalist style and so much more like something margo Leadbetter from tV’s the Good Life would covet instead.

Unbelievable as it may seem, Kate does, indeed, have stylists selecting outfits for her. And also a hairdresser who travels with the team to pile her hair up into the kind of cottage loaf buns that were once popular with minor Victorian royals attending the Balmoral ghillies ball.

By choosing to herd ’em into erdem, i suppose the Duchess and her team were being patriotic, feeling that they should fly the flag for British designers — but, quite honestly, an actual flag would have been an improvement.

And, like millions of readers, i don’t understand the price of fashion, either. it’s insane! Nowadays, it seems commonplace for a pair of strappy sandals to cost more than a car. How can an ordinary everyday gabardine mac be worth a four-figure sum?

the only charitable explanation for this latest sartorial dis-as-tah is that Wills and Kate were kindly dressing down because their Nordic hosts’ idea of cosy winter style is even worse than theirs; a jumper over a jumper.

When they were all togged up in their evening worst, the four of them looked as if they were leaving a works- do in Bolton town hall. reader Connie is right. the Cambridges are representing us, and they need to try harder.

But there is a glimmer of hope for the queenly future. Last night, when all was nearly lost, the Duchess pulled a sheer, pale- pink evening gown out of her little shop of horrors — and turned on the style taps at last.

it was regal, classy and even had a supergirl cape, which bathed her in a heroic glow.

it was almost too little too late — but well done, my old Duch.