Catherine the great

 Kate wows in Erdem blue lace during the royal tour of Canada

GRACEFUL Kate Middleton has charm??ed the nation with her chic and elegant sense of style. And today fashion experts crowned her Britain?s best-dressed woman of 2011.

The Duchess of Cambridge has told aides she wants to avoid being seen as a mere ?clothes horse? ? but plaudits keep coming her way.

The latest is from the UK edition of Harper?s Bazaar, the American fashion bible.

In mainly off-the-peg high-street garments, 29-year-old Kate has trumped the designer-clad cream of the catwalks and stars of stage and screen, according to the magazine?s judges.

The panel was asked to select 20 women who represent British style that is peerlessly elegant and gloriously unpredictable.

Speaking of Kate?s wedding to Prince William in April, Lucy Yeomans, editor of Harper?s Bazaar, said: ?She gave us the year?s, if not the century?s, most thrilling fashion moment.?

The judges summed up their decision and Kate?s impact on sales of clothes, saying: ?Catherine?s incredible style evolution has gripped us all.?

The Prince?s sophisticated wife heads a top 10 of best-dressed women that includes singer Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, actress Andrea Riseborough, model Kate Moss and actress Tilda Swinton.

Actress Keira Knightley, Prime Minister David Cameron?s wife Samantha and fashion designer Stella McCartney also feature in the top 20 but they could not compete with the royal family?s latest star.

The Duchess of Cambridge is known to like to fly the flag for the British fashion industry. In August a Global Language Monitor survey said that London had overtaken New York as the world?s fashion capital for 2011.

The change in status has been fuelled by media interest in Kate and the late British designer Alexander McQueen, whose protegee Sarah Burton made the royal wedding dress.