Kate Middleton has topped Vanity Fair's The International Best-Dressed List for 2012, making it her third successive win.

Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, has won universal acclaim for her dressing sense and style and studious patron of British designers, ranging from Alexander McQueen to Stella McCartney. However, what has also helped her top Vanity Fair's list (and similar lists across the world) is what has been described as a natural elegance and poise that allows Kate to carry herself and the fact of her royalty with ease.

The Duchess has seen off the challenge of several glamorous Hollywood stars to top the list over the last three years, right from the team she was seen with Prince William at royal family events... and the rumour mills started churning.

Kate is followed by actress Jessica Chastain in the 2012 list, which also features New York Times Style photographer Bill Cunningham, actress and model Lea Seydoux, rapper Jay-Z, designer Stella McCartney and Chinese actress Fan Bingbing.

Incidentally, Kate isn't the only member of the royal family on the list - brother-in-law Prince Harry is on it too... probably for his stylish shoe collection, which varies from Elvis Presley/Chuck Berry homage of blue suedes to Russell & Bromley desert boots. Moreover, Harry's style statement during his solo tour of the Caribbean this year made him an instant male royal fashion icon.

Outside the British royal family, Princess Alexandra of Greece, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and Monaco's Princess Charlotte Casiraghi were other royal ladies to be featured on the Vanity Fair's Best Dressed list. Charlotte, granddaughter of former American actress Grace Kelly, who became the Princess of Monaco (more popularly known as Princess Grace) after marrying Rainier III, Prince of Monaco in April 1956, was featured on the cover page of the September 2011 issue of French Vogue last year. More recently, luxury brand Gucci announced in March that Charlotte, an equestrian show jumper who will turn 26 on Friday, would be featured in a series of images for the brand's Forever Now campaign.

Interestingly, Letizia, Princess of Asturias, and Princess Charlene of Monaco, who have often been compared to Kate Middleton for their commonness in fashion and change in statuses from commoners to princesses, failed to make it to the Best Dressed List.

Click Start to begin a slideshow of some of Kate Middleton's best fashion moments over the past three years 

Kate Middleton in a McQueen dress

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrives at the National War Memorial in Ottawa June 30, 2011.

Kate Middleton, then Prince William's girlfriend, is seen at RAF Cranwell, central England April 11, 2008 (L). Now titled the Duchess of Cambridge, she seems to be back in her pre-wedding health. Right: She is seen at the Lucian Freud Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in central London Feb. 8, 2012. The visit was her first solo public engagement.

Kate Middleton has always shown a fondness for lace dresses. Pictured from Left to Right: Kate wears a black and cream lace gown to UK premiere of the film 'War Horse' in London January 8, 2012; She dons an Alexander McQueen lace dress for a service of thanksgiving to mark Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee at St Pauls Cathedral in central London June 5, 2012; and Kate looks regal in her royal blue lace dress by Canadian designer Erdem Moralioglu during a visit to Quebec City in July 2011.

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrives for the 'Our Greatest Team Rises' event to celebrate TeamGB and ParalympicsGB at the Royal Albert Hall, in central London May 11, 2012. The Duchess was as usual a head-turner as she stepped out of her car in an aqua fresh, teal dress by Jenny Packham. The floor-length dress featured netted back and shoulders and a beaded belt across the waist that gave a regal look to the Duchess.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (L), arrives for a tour at the Calgary Zoo in Calgary, Alberta during a royal tour of Canada July 8, 2011. She arrives for a visit to The Brink, an alcohol-free bar in Liverpool, northern England (L), Feb. 14, 2012.

Duchess of Cambridge Catherine Middleton attends the UK Creative Industries Forum at the Royal Academy in London.

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge poses for a group photograph during a visit to Aldershot Barracks in Aldershot, southern England March 17, 2012. During the visit, the Duchess presented shamrocks to the Irish Guards at a St Patrick's Day parade .

File photo: Kate Middleton leaves after the wedding of Laura Parker Bowles and Harry Lopes at St Cyriac's Church in Lacock, in Wiltshire, west England, May 6, 2006. Parker Bowles, the daughter of Britain's Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, has married accountant and former underwear model Lopes.

Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge