How Meghan stepped ahead with daring Aquazzura heels. They turned up the style-dial on royal fashion, writes ALICE HARE (although it’s not entirely clear if Queen Elizabeth approved…)

Meghan started it. Then Kate took it up. Beatrice and Eugenie followed. Zara was next. No, we’re not talking about the latest type of yoga. 

It’s Aquazzura heels we’re on about – duh. Any discerning royal style fan will have noticed that the Italian luxury shoe brand has become the royals’ go-to of late – and with good reason.

When Meghan Markle stepped out for her engagement photographs in November 2017, fashion fans were quick to spot her shoe choice. Aquazzura’s ‘Matilde’ pumps were markedly different from the more traditional shoe choices hitherto made by royal women.

Megan Markle broke the royal mould when she stepped out in Aquazzura’s stylish Matilde pumps

Meghan attends the opening of Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in Aquazzura’s Bow Tie Pumps 105

The Bow Tie pumps make an appearance at Buckingham Palace in 2018

Eugenie gets with the trend, wearing Aquazzura Matilde pumps in July 2018

These were doubtless influenced by the late Queen Elizabeth, who had conservative views on footwear – and strong views on certain styles. It is said that her distaste for a wedge heel meant Kate only ever wore them for events the Queen was not attending. 

So Meghan’s engagement shoes, with their four-inch heel and crossover detail, were quite a departure.

They were certainly not chic-meets-sensible trademark Anello & Davide block heel loafers worn by the Queen and a contrast, too, with the classic, no-frills L.K. Bennett pumps favoured by Kate.

No, Meghan was offering a new take on the heeled pump that was – whisper it – a little bit provocative.

Provocative?! 

They’re hardly eight-inch platforms, I hear you say. Well, yes. But there’s something about the addition of the spaghetti-thin crossover strap on the front of Meghan’s Aquazzura Matilde heels that creates a beautifully elegant v-shape on the foot.

 And the heel was that tiny bit higher than the royal pumps of old – just a centimetre or so, but it makes all the difference. Less frumpy, 1980s mother of the bride and more… elegant.

Kate leaves a ceremony for the re-opening of the National Portrait  Gallery in Aquazzura Bow Tie heels

Kate’s smooth heels are on show from the back during the Coronation celebrations

The iconic bow tie pumps worn by Catherine, Princess of Wales and other royals

Princess Beatrice in her Aquazzura Forever 105 black suede pumps for the Easter Service at St George’s Chapel Windsor this year

Kate soon cottoned on that an Aquazzura pump could immediately modernise a look. It is thought she now owns six different styles. 

Kate doesn’t have a pair like Meghan’s with a crossover front, but, as well as several of their traditional pump styles (with update royal pumps of old with their ever-so-slightly higher heel), she has some of their ‘bow tie’ pumps.

 They’re a traditional pump with a modern twist – small cut-outs at the sides are topped off with a bow detail on the back of the ankle. Sounds grim, looks  chic. 

Why are they modern? Because, much like Meghan’s engagement heels, they draw attention to the foot. 

You can see a glimpse of Kate’s (perfectly pedicured) heels when she wears her bow tie pumps. There’s a reason why royals don’t traipse around in toe-baring sandals in the summer – it’s an unwritten rule amongst the elegant that open-toe shoes or shoes that in any way expose the very front of the foot are unacceptable. 

Aquazzura, though, has worked out how to modernise the traditional pump without ever lapsing into vulgarity.

Queen Letizia of Spain and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands have joined the Aquazzura gang too. And they’re not the only international royals who love the brand’s timeless-meets-modern fusion: the twenty-seven-year-old achingly cool Princess Olympia of Greece was announced as their ambassador last year.

Zara Tindall at a VIP reception in Forever Marilyn  black suede pumps from Aquazzura

Queen Letizia in her Aquazzura in the Forever Pump 105 in March 2023

Queen Maxima wore a wool cape from Belgian couture label Maison Natan over a trouser and top by the same designer. She added a splash of colour with the Lady Dior pouch in a shade of cherry red. The look was finished with black suede pumps by Aquazzura

Princess Olympia of Greece is the Royal brand ambassador for Aquazzura 

Princess Olympia models  the Tequila Plexi sandals for Aquazzura

There are few fashion houses that successfully unite traditional craftmanship with cutting-edge design – so often, it’s either one or the other.

And this is Aquazzura’s appeal for the royals: their shoes are handmade with a comfort-first approach – something needed when you’re on your feet on a public engagement all day. 

They do this without looking remotely orthopaedic – they are cool and modern but never, ever ostentatious. Comfort and style? A footwear double threat, if you will.

Zara Tindall stepping out last night for King Charles’ birthday party in a pair of the brand’s ‘Forever Marilyn’ pumps cemented it: who needs glass slippers when you have Aquazzura?