In her opening speech, Williams referred to her friends, saying: “Please Harry and Meghan, try not to breathe too much tonight, because this is my night, and I don’t want to be overshadowed by the accusations that you guys are taking up too much oxygen.”
She may have been joking but had the Duchess and Serena planned a sartorial representation of the remarks? Both women chose to wear figure-skimming halter-neck dresses but while Williams’s Ferragamo number was adorned with sequins and ostrich feathers, the Duchess’s appeared to be far more simple, an example of her new brand of Montecito minimalism.
But completing her look with a £550 pair of Celine sandals, the Duchess epitomised the style adage that less is more.