Sophie, Countess of Wessex first met Melania in June 2019 during the Trumps’ state visit to the UK. Two years later, the countess appeared to take style inspiration from the former first lady.

Sophie, who is married to Prince Edward, rocked a pink and white Alaïa maxi dress for a day at Silverstone in July – the same patterned piece that Melania donned to celebrate Easter in 2018. While Donald Trump’s wife paired the US$2,700 designer number with white Christian Louboutin heels, the countess paired hers with white wedges from Penelope Chilvers to watch the Formula 1 racing event.

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Kate Middleton

It’s usually Melania who is accused of copying the style of the British royals, such as the time in September 2020 when she wore a polka dot dress by Gabriela Hearst – a Uruguayan designer who debuted at Paris Fashion Week that year – to host a White House round table about returning to work after recovering from drug addiction.

The event came a couple of months after the Duchess of Cambridge wore a similar US$3,000 shirt dress designed by Brit Emilia Wickstead to appear on a TV show about education.

Both designers have showcased their work at New York Fashion Week over the years, so it’s no surprise that former NYC-based model Melania was so inspired. Her version was worth US$1,990 and she paired it with heels, while Kate wore her pricier look with US$190 Castañer lace-up wedges.

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Meghan Markle

But critics pointed out that Melania’s ensemble to meet with Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – which included a custom Hervé Pierre hat similar to one Princess Diana wore in the 90s – came off a bit more like Eliza Doolittle, the ordinary woman in My Fair Lady who tries to fit in with British high society.

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Queen Letizia

Melania turned heads when she wore a red caped dress to host the British royals in 2019. It was almost exactly the same style that Queen Letizia, King Felipe’s former journalist wife, had worn two years prior.

Although the piece wasn’t by the same designer – the Spanish royal’s one-shouldered dress was by Stella McCartney, while Melania wore a US$7,000 look by Meghan Markle’s wedding dress designer Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy – Melania copied Queen Letizia’s designer too, later on.

In December 2019, at a White House Christmas reception, Melania donned am identical Dries Van Noten floral print that Queen Letizia had worn just two weeks earlier at the Francisco Cerecedo awards in November.