C# MailKit HTML email received as plain text

Question

I have a complex email template that contains many div, section and other HTML elements. The HTML template has reference to CSS(uploaded to server). I am using the below code to send HTML email via MailKit :

var message = new MimeMessage();
var bodyBuilder = new BodyBuilder();
bodyBuilder.HtmlBody = File.ReadAllText(pathToHtmlFIle);
message.Body = bodyBuilder.ToMessageBody();

client.Send(message);

But the client only receives everything in plain-text, no colors, no formatting. Is this the expected result ?

Answer 1

I think you need to use either inline CSS or CSS embedded in the head section. Since most webmail clients block links to external stylesheets, it is rare to see this method employed in an email.