How Much Is It Worth?!
NOTE: This is a constantly updating post and subject to change as pieces are identified. If you would like to contribute to finding the UFOs from 2018, visit our comprehensive breakdown HERE.
As is becoming our annual tradition, Heaven and I have sat down with our notes, spreadsheets and calculators to bring you a comprehensive look at the value of the new clothing of 14 different royal ladies from around the world. Last year we brought you the number for 11 different ladies, and we heard your requests for us to include a few others. We are so happy to be able to include Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and the Duchess of Sussex this year, per your request, in addition to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
You will notice that Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan is not on this year's list as she was last year. After discussions with the Royal Hashemite Court and the Office of Her Majesty, we have taken Her Majesty out of our tally and off of our website as to not cause any “damage” to her from our calculations of the yearly worth of her clothing. As a result of our discussions with members of the Court, we determine it was best for Her Majesty and UFONoMore.com to remove her from our tally and website.
When we calculate costs we break down the numbers into 3 categories:
Pieces that remain UFO (Unidentified Fashion Objects)
Pieces that are identified and costs can be found
Pieces where the designer is known but the design is custom or a price us unknown
In very few instances, we will estimate a price of an article of clothing. This occurs when the piece is similar to a “base model” being sold and there are minor details changed (color, neckline, sleeves, etc). Out of 1,663 new pieces debuted this year by these ladies - only 34 of these pieces did we estimate a price. We mention this in an effort to convey the most transparent and accurate view of the costs.
Totals in Euros (Descending by 2018 Total)
Now onto the data! In total, these 14 royal ladies debuted clothing retailing over 1,195,497 € ($1,281,524 USD) during 2018 on clothings and accessories. This 1,195,497 € ($1,281,524 USD) takes into account the 1,095 pieces which were identified with costs or had costs estimated. Excluded from this tally was 568 pieces where the pieces remain UFO or are custom pieces.
Average Price-Per-Piece in Euros
We acknowledge that some of these tallies could be higher because a royal has more pieces identified than others - which is why we include the average price-per-piece graphic for you below. These numbers are calculated by dividing the cost of pieces we have prices for by the number of pieces we have prices for (Example: Even though Princess Charlene of Monaco had 51 new pieces, we divided her total amount by 24 because that was how many pieces we had prices for). This gives us a better idea of her spending habits and trends.
The Duchess of Sussex has taken over the top spot in her first year as a royal. We have calculated her new clothing worth to be a whooping 479,048 € ( $509,278 USD) this year. That number is likely higher because only 256 pieces out of her 324 new pieces have prices and thus are included in this amount. One factor that we have tossed back in forth as we have watched this number climb is that included in this number are her Cartier Reflection Wedding Bracelet and Earrings. The idea has been bounced around that they were gifts from Prince Charles, which would see them removed from our tally because we do not include gifts from family members or Government Officials, however because the Palace has not confirmed either way we leave them in. The earrings and bracelet carry a hefty price tag of 206,022€ ($233,000 USD) so if they were indeed gifts, her total spending would be 273,026 € ($286,278 USD) which still has her in the top spot. Another thing to note is that her wedding ceremony gown is not included, as it was completely custom made for her by Givenchy and thus has no retail price. Her Stella McCartney gown is included as the designer released a near identical design. (Visit Meghan’s Mirror’s post for a further analysis)
With the second highest amount, Crown Princess Mary comes next in the line up. With her 2018 wardrobe additions costing 102,914€ ($144,349 USD) for 105 pieces and debuting 170 pieces, she certainly has been stepping up her “fashion game” in the past few years. Mixing local and couture designers her average price-per-piece was 980€ ($1,089 USD), putting her in the middle of the ranking for our cost-for-pieces tally. (Visit Princess Marie’s Closet’s post for a further analysis)
Next up is Sophie, Countess of Wessex who’s debuted 85 new pieces this year - totaling 86,675€ ($91,939 USD) for 60 of those pieces. She ranked 3rd highest on the average cost-per-piece with an average of 1,444€ ($1,532 USD) for 2018. Following her was Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge who debuted 117 new pieces this year. Of those 117 pieces, only 81 of them factored into her 80,237€ ($85,097 USD) total. While her numbers are lower than last year, it should be remembered that she also had a maternity leave during this year which left her out of the public eye for a few months.
Princess Charlene always manages to find herself in the middle of the “rankings”; however, for 2 years in a row she remains in the top spot for average price-per-piece. Her total amount was 61,390€ ($65,178 USD) for 24 out of 51 total new pieces. While this total puts her in the middle, her price-per-piece average came in at 2,557€ ($2,715 USD) which was about 705€ ($733 USD) higher than the Duchess of Sussex who took the number 2 spot in the price-per-piece tally.
Next up, was Queen Maxima of the Netherlands - whose new clothing retail value is probably double what we have calculated as we only have prices for 48 of her 108 new pieces for 2018; this resulted in a tally of 56,805€ ($60,383 USD). Most of her new pieces were custom pieces, many from Natan which result in 60 pieces where prices were unknown or remained unidentified- therefore excluded.
Another new addition to our tally this year was Princess Beatrice who totaled in at 56,363€ ($59,817 USD) for 62 out of 88 new pieces. With her sister’s wedding being a major event in their family this year, Princess Beatrice made sure that she dressed the part all year long introducing Gucci designs into her wardrobe and continuing her love for loafer shoes.
Princess Marie comes next in the tally spending 49,408 € ($58,042.70 USD) on 59 out of 96 new pieces. Her year saw her wearing Elie Saab for the first time, much to Heaven’s great pleasure! Her biggest splurge of the year was a new selection of jewels from her favorite designer Christine Hvelplund, which raised her average price-per-piece to 843€ ($967 USD). (Visit Princess Marie’s Closet’s post for a further analysis)
The first Swede on the list is Crown Princess Victoria who debuted 133 new pieces this year. Continuing her pattern of championing Scandinavian designers, her total comes in to 44,095 € ($47,127 USD) for 98 of those pieces. Her choice to majorly favor Scandinavian designers resulted in her average price-per-piece being one of the lowest at 449€ ($480 USD). (Visit The Royals & I’s post for a further breakdown)
Next up is Queen Letizia, who continued her love of high street brands which allowed her to debut 196 new pieces but remain a low figure on the tally. While 107 of those pieces factored into her total of 42,448€ ($45,054 USD) - it is safe to say that she knows how to get the most “bang-for-her-buck”.
Next is Crown Princess Mette Marit of Norway, who was also away from the public eye for most of the year on medical leave. Spending 41,027€ ($43,594 USD) on 52 of her 76 new pieces, 2018 saw her splurging more a couple specialty pieces. Her price-per-piece average came to 789€ ($838 USD). *We have talked to the royal court and determined that one of items had a wrong identification and it was thus taken out of the total number until the correct identification could be confirmed*
Princess Eugenie had an exciting year - both in her personal life and in fashion. Marrying Jack Brooksbank this autumn wearing a custom gown designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, her wedding weekend accounted for many custom gowns and outfits which are sure to bring her actual numbers up. She finished the year with a total of 37,512 € ($39,818 USD) for 43 out of her 60 new pieces this year. (Note: Her wedding outfits are not included in these numbers because they were custom made and therefore we don’t have a price for them)
Finishing our tally are Princess Sofia and Princess Madeleine of Sweden. Princess Sofia’s total came to 30,844€ ($33,049 USD) for the year which accounts for 72 of her 118 new pieces debuted this year. Princess Madeleine spent most of the year out of public eye, giving birth to Princess Adrienne and relocating her family to Florida which accounted for her low numbers. Her total came to 26,398€ ($28,493 USD) for 24 out of her 39 new pieces. However, when she did debut a new piece - it was typically from a luxury brand, as seen in her average price-per-piece amount of 1,099€ ($1,187 USD). (Visit The Royals & I’s post for a further breakdown)
In summary, the standings from 2018 are:
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
Sophie, Countess of Wessex
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Princess Charlene of Monaco
Queen Maxima of Netherlands
Princess Beatrice
Princess Marie of Denmark
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
Queen Letizia of Spain
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
Princess Eugenie
Princess Sofia of Sweden
Princess Madeleine of Sweden
Did any of these numbers surprise you? Leave a comment and let us know!
**At face value our calculations are what the royal’s clothes are worth, and in theory, what they would cost for you or I to buy. However, we are not saying that these calculations are what the royals ladies specifically spent, as we cannot verify that. We fully recognize that royals may receive discounts, shop sales, or be gifted some of these pieces. However, in order to stay objective, we made the decision to only use the full retail value of the pieces so that we do not show bias. These numbers should be viewed as the retail cost of their new pieces, rather than the exact number they personally spent.**
If you would like to use these numbers for your own article - please make sure to credit us and link back to our original post. If you have any questions or want more information about the data posted here, send us an email .
