By Rachel Fanconi and Rebecca English


Best foot forward: Pippa's shoes were almost exactly the same as those worn by her mother, Carole


Even if you were blessed with legs as enviably long and lean as the Middleton ladies, who wouldn’t want a pair of shoes that elegantly enhanced your best asset?

At the races last week, Kate’s legs looked as lithe as any filly in the Derby, thanks to a pair of classic patent nude courts – and she’s not the only one.

Both her mother and her sister have invested in pairs of their own – and reaped the leg-lengthening benefits.


Fashion fans might assume both Kate and Pippa have treated themselves to a pair of upmarket designer Jimmy Choo's Cosmics heels.

But, with a price tag of more than £400 – and their love of the High Street – it’s likely they’ve actually plumped for a near identical pair from retailer LK Bennett.

This spring/summer LK Bennett’s Sledge – at £175 – has become part of the unofficial uniform for young royals and Carole, too, it would appear has opted for an LK Bennett shoe, albeit with a lower heel.

The result for all three was one of old-fashioned elegance.

Pippa and Carole were dressed up to attend a beach party at the Goring Hotel, their home-from-home over the Royal Wedding period.

Jeremy Goring had let them take over his hotel as their family base for the royal wedding little more than a month ago.

Like mother, like daughter: Pippa's high-heeled nude courts, left, and Carole's similar pair with a lower heel height


So perhaps it was only fair that the Middletons repaid the favour by returning as guests of honour at his summer beach party.

Carole, Michael and their younger daughter, Pippa, looked suitably tanned for the opening of his own Basil’s Bar – a replica of the ‘greatest bar in the world’ on the Caribbean island of Mustique.

The private tropical paradise is, by happy co-incidence, one of the Middletons’ favourite holiday haunts.

Kate and Prince William have taken several trips to the island and are regular visitors to Basil’s original bar, where William is once said to have given a karaoke rendition of Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds.

Kate was spotted having lunch with her parents at YO! Sushi in Knightsbridge on Tuesday, the day of the party, but did not attend the evening celebration.

The family obviously felt right at home at the hotel where cocktails including the Mustique Mule and Hurricane David were served to the sounds of a reggae band.

Mrs Middleton relaxed enough to tell one guest the couple still ‘feel as if they are living in a dream’ following her daughter's marriage into the Royal family in April.

Flattering footwear: The Duchess of Cambridge wore nude courts to Epsom over the weekend


‘She said that they wake up every day and can’t quite believe what has happened,’ a source said.

‘Apparently the only time they ever feel as if they are living their old life is when they climb into the bed at the end of the day.

‘She said they have both been so surprised at the continuing level of interest in their daughter.’

The family left at 12.20am clutching goody bags embellished with the hotel’s name.

But a spokesman for the Goring, which also hosted Kate in a £5,000-a-night suite the night before her wedding, declined to comment on the Middletons, saying the guest list for the event was private.

She rejected suggestions it was cashing in on its connections with the family, saying: ‘Mr Goring wanted to attract a younger crowd over the summer, so he decided to launch [his] own Basil’s Bar.’


source:dailymail