Kate Middleton wins Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed list 2012 for third year running

Kate Middleton has topped Vanity Fair’s annual International Best Dressed list for the third year running.

The prestigious ranking, which appears in the September issue of the glossy title, saw the Duchess of Cambridge trump some of the fashion world’s most influential figures including actresses Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger and Léa Seydoux, as well as the much-loved New York Times street style photographer Bill Cunningham.

Kate Middleton won praise for patriotically championing home-grown designers such as Alexander McQueen, Alice Temperley, and Matthew Williamson, as well as High Street brands.

Of course, the Duchess was not the only royal to make the list. Her brother-in-law, Prince Harry, also featured at number 27, while Monaco’s Charlotte Casiraghi and HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark placed at numbers 35 and 32 respectively.

They appeared alongside fashion industry power players such as Stella McCartney, Alice & Olivia designer Stacey Bendet and Odcar de la Renta PR Erika Bearman, better known by her Twitter handle, OscarPRGirl.

Among the men to make the list was Gisele Bundchen’s quarterback husband Tom Brady, who ranked high at number seven. Interestingly the supermodel herself didn’t even make the list at all. The same was true of Jay-Z, who came fifth, while wife Beyonce didn’t feature either.

Several couples featured as a single entry, however. Colin Firth appeared alongside his wife Livia, who regularly steps out on the red carpet in eco-friendly designer creations.

Moda Operandi founder and Vogue contributor Lauren Santo Domingo came 20th in the list with her music executive husband Andrés

Italian socialites and power couple Ginevra Elkann and Giovanni Gaetani dell’Aquila d’Aragona also appeared together at number 38.

Other major names to make the list were singer Alicia Keys, actress Fan Bingbing and British actor Eddie Redmayne.

Today show anchor Matt Lauer came in at 25, New York Giants Wide Receiver Victor Cruz at 23 and Isabella Rossellini’s daughter Elettra Wiedemann came in at 33.

Vanity Fair is not the first title to have put the Duchess of Cambridge top of its best-dressed list.

People magazine named her one of their ten most stylish women in the world last September. And Harper’s Bazaar followed suit by putting her top of their list in November.