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Jenna Lyons Dishes on Her "Very Exciting" Brush with Kate Middleton
The Princess of Wales may have been a little starstruck when she met RHONY's Jenna Lyons.
Jenna Lyons may be considered fashion royalty in America, but The Real Housewives of New York City cast member once rubbed elbows with a real princess.
Jenna Lyons on Meeting Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton, officially now known as the Princess of Wales, and Jenna crossed paths in New York at the Creativity is Great reception in 2014.
“You know she walked right up to me and put her hands on my sparkly shirt and said, ‘Oh, I know you’, and I was like, ‘Ahh!’” Jenna once told Elle UK of the enviable moment.
The look of pure excitement on Kate’s face as she met the fashion legend and former president of J. Crew is priceless.
But Kate wasn’t the only one to be feeling majorly starstruck. Jenna called the British royal “literally the sweetest, most charming person on the planet.”
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And even though she had been told there was a strict no touching rule when the royals are involved, Jenna was thrilled when Kate walked up and reached out to her.
“She walked up and touched me so I was like, ‘Thank you,’” Jenna recalled. “It was very exciting.”
For the iconic moment, captured perfectly in photos, Jenna was wearing a custom J. Crew sparkly raspberry ombre top over a button-down shirt and black pants.
“The top was a J. Crew collection top that we had custom made so it’s actually these long, thin, they’re called paillettes,” Jenna explained. “They kind of dance down the shirt. They made quite a shimmy, and I’m just wearing a button-down shirt.”
Jenna pulled out the sparkly number again in RHONY Season 1, Episode 5, as she and her friend Heather were cleaning out her massive storage closet, filled with one-of-a-kind pieces at her Soho apartment.
Jenna was trying to decide which items to keep and which to sell on Instagram.
“I don’t think I can sell this,” Jenna said as she pulled out a garment bag with the top. “ [It's what I wore] when I met Kate Middleton.”
Despite her hesitation, Heather devastatingly convinced Jenna it should go in the “sell” pile.
While it’s unclear whether the designer piece actually ever made it out of storage, and into another’s hands or not, Jenna hoped to breathe new life into the pieces she was parting with.
“There’s something nice knowing it’s going to someone who liked it or saw it and loves it and appreciates it, because a lot of the stuff is beautiful designer clothes I just don’t wear anymore,” she said on RHONY. “They need to have a second life. Just like me.”
