BY PRIYANKA GUDHENIA | DKODING MEDIA
The royal privilege has its own rewards, but it comes with a lot of traditions, rules, and responsibilities.
Being part of the royal family is an amazing privilege. There’s an endless amount of benefits that they enjoy, like having the best food, the best healthcare, getting all the bills paid by the state and of course having the best of fashion sense. Oh, the fashion of the royals. They surely do have a knack for being fashionable.
From Princess Diana’s classy fashion sense to Kate’s love for patterns and textures, from Queen’s utterly neon outfits to Meghan Markel’s preference of Nude subtle shades, they all have one thing in common: They all follow fashion protocols.
The Royal Family of England live their lives in the spotlight, so it makes sense as to why there are certain rules the family must adhere to. Fashion rules and etiquette help them look polished, plus, it keeps all those wardrobe malfunctions at bay.
Scroll through the biggest revelations about the strict royal dress code the family abides by that have kept the family looking posh and regal.
1. Dresses should be an appropriate length
This fashion rule seems like a pretty obvious one for the royal women. Dresses and skirts must be kept around knee-length and should never be more than three inches above the knee.
Knee-length is what the queen favors, plus it prevents any sort of malfunction while bending or at a brisk of wind.
2. No nail polish
The reason why you’ve only noticed Queen Elizabeth and Kate Middleton sporting neutral shades on their nails are because wearing flashy colors or glittery polishes is a big NO in the palace.
The women either wear subtle pinks or clear polishes. The queen, on the other hand, has been wearing Essie’s “Ballet Slippers” shade (or no polish at all) for more than 28 years.
Even though the fashion rules are pretty strict in the Royal family, these women would often have fun breaking them.
They’re the Royals, they can make or break the rules!
3. Royal women hold purses in their left hand
Handbags are a common accessory worldwide and also carried much to royal outings and greeting places. Although you can’t just hold them in any hand you want. The royal women are only allowed to carry their bags in their left hands.
Meghan Markel and Kate Middleton have always been spotted holding their purses in their left hands, simply because their right hand is free to wave, shake hands, and greet people in public.
Kate Middleton often holds her clutch bags in front of her with both hand when wanting to avoid a handshake.
And Meghan Markel is more likely to be seen with clutches while attending a formal event.
But when it comes to the queen, she uses her handbags to send out secret messages to her staff. For example, simply setting her bag on the table means she’s ready to depart. Also, switching her bag from one hand to the other means she would like to politely wrap up the convo.
“It would be very worrying if you were talking to the queen and saw the handbag move from one hand to the other,” royal historian Hugo Vickers told People.
4. Showing Cleavage isn’t appropriate
To avoid the embarrassing slip-ups, Princess Diana would always carry a clutch bag in her hands to shield her chest in the cleverest way, while stepping out of cars. This tactic would often hide her chest from the prying photographers.
Modesty is the best policy.
“We used to laugh when we designed what she called her ‘cleavage bags,’ little satin clutches which she would cover her cleavage with when she stepped out of cars,” Anya Hindmarch, Princess Diana’s handbag designer told The Telegraph.
5. Queen wears bright colors for a reason
You would probably ever spot Queen Elizabeth not wearing bold colors. And you’d be surprised to know that it’s not just because she loves those brightly-hued monochromatic outfits, but there’s a good reason for that.
She wants to guarantee the public can see her through the crowd. “She needs to stand out for people to be able to say, ‘I saw the Queen,'” her daughter-in-law, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, explained in the 2016 documentary The Queen at 90.
Turns out our Queen is a little attention seeker!
6. Young Prince’s Never Wear Pants
Besides the fact that Prince George looks adorable in them, the reason he’s always spotted wearing shorts is that dressing boys in shorts is a deep-rooted tradition among British royalty and aristocracy.
“Trousers are for older boys and men, whereas shorts on young boys is one of those silent markers that we have in England,” British etiquette expert William Hanson told Harper’s Bazaar.
“A pair of trousers on a young boy is considered quite middle class—quite suburban. And no self-respecting aristo or royal would want to be considered suburban.”
7. Girls in the royal family generally wear dresses
Princess Charlotte has always stolen the spotlight when spotted out with her parents, wearing her cute little dresses and tiny shoes.
“If you look at photos of young royal girls – from Princess Anne to Charlotte, you will notice that they tend to wear smocked dresses as little girls when they are in public with their parents,” Marlene Koenig, a royal expert, and Royal Musings blog founder told Harper’s Bazaar.
Getting a young princess dressed up in dresses is more of a preference than a hard and fast rule. The idea is to keep the wardrobe classic and timeless for a clean, traditional look, rather than clothes that draw attention to them.
8. Only married woman can wear a tiara
Although these star-studded, beautifully designed tiaras make us wanna wear them every day. Tiaras are worn only to the fanciest of royal events like wedding days or any other.
Tiaras are like wedding rings, a privilege reserved for married woman only.
“It signals the crowning of love and the loss of innocence to marriage,” Geoffrey Munn, the author of Tiaras: A History of Splendour, explained to Forbes.
“The family tiara was worn by the bride and from that moment onwards it was the groom’s jewelry she was expected to wear. It was a subliminal message that she had moved from her own family to another.”
9. A black ensemble has to be packed for every trip
Although the Royal Family does not prefer wearing black, it is one of the morbid rules that a spare black outfit is always packed with them while traveling outside in case of an emergency, say, death of a family member.
This way, when they arrive back in the UK, they are dressed appropriately to fit the somber occasion.
10. Hats are part of an old English Tradition
I can’t think of a moment when you haven’t noticed The Queen without a hat. For basically every formal occasion, the queen wears a hat that perfectly matches her bright coloured outfit.
Apparently, this comes from a very old tradition that is still being followed by The Royals, that women should keep their hair covered.
When the queen isn’t wearing a hat, she still covers her head with a crown or a headscarf.
We dare you to follow these Royal fashion protocols!
