30 Fashion Rules The Royal Family Must Follow
Being a member of the royal family is a wonderful honor, but it also entails a lot of customs
and regulations, some of which even have an impact on what people wear and how they dress.
The following 30 protocols the Royal family must abide by, come what may.
Number 30.
The length of skirts and dresses should always be acceptable.
For royal women, skirts and dresses should be kept at or just below the knee.
They should never be more than three or four inches above her knee.
Number 29.
Colorful nail polish isn’t allowed Every time Queen Elizabeth or Kate Middleton
steps out in public, their nail color is always neutral.
They either wear subtle pinks or clear polish when on official business because only natural-looking
nails are allowed at royal events.
But bare nails or subtle nail colors are totally encouraged.
The queen has been wearing Essie’s “Ballet Slippers” shade (or no polish at all) for
28 years.
Soft pink is the color of Ballet Slippers.
The Queen's hairdresser requested a bottle of the polish in 1989, noting that it was
"the only color Her Majesty would wear," according to the Essie website.
The situation might be a little more forgiving, though, when it comes to the royal tootsies.
When visiting the Gandhi Smriti museum in India, the Duchess of Cambridge, formerly
known as Princess Kate Middleton, was seen going au naturel on her toes and taking off
her shoes.
But according to EverythingBritish.blogspot.com, Kate went to a London premiere a few years
ago wearing peep-toe heels and dark red nail varnish.
When it comes to pedicures, there could be a little bit more "toe" wriggle room.
The nail polish the Duchess of Cambridge wore on her wedding day is available for purchase.
Number 28.
Use fashion to connect with your hosts
Members of the royal family will wear national symbols when traveling to demonstrate their
respect for the host nation.
They have a history of doing this by donning clothing made by local designers or sporting
national colors or symbols.
When Kate Middleton wore a local designer dress in India, it attracted so much attention
that the designer's website crashed.
The Duchess also chose local designer Zimmermann for one of her days out when she visited Australia.
Number 27.
Wear Hats with the Queen
Royals expert Katie Nicholl told Glamour that she thinks this gaffe was one of the biggest
for the royal family.
On her first official outing with the Queen, Meghan didn't wear a hat as the monarch did,
which could be considered extremely rude.
"I do think that was a mistake," Nicholl said.
The queen herself dons a hat to complement her vibrant dress to pretty much every formal
event.
The idea that women should cover their hair stems from a very old custom.
According to Mather, who spoke to the BBC, ladies were very rarely seen without a hat
up until the 1950s because it was not considered 'the thing' for ladies to exhibit their hair
in public.
The queen rarely wears a hat, but when she does, she might be seen donning a crown or
a head scarf.
Number 26.
No Messy Buns
Meghan Markle's signature messy buns provided hair inspiration for people everywhere, but
they were also against protocol.
One can argue that the perfect messy bun is an art in itself, but royals are supposed
to look well-styled and mess-free while in public.
Kate even sometimes wears a hair net to prevent flyaways.
Number 25.
Deference to Local Customs on Royal Tours
On royal tours, fashion tells a story.
Often, the royal women will wear local designers — or outfits in the colors of a country's
flag.
When Kate was in Canada, for instance, she wore a white and red outfit and a hat with
the country's maple leaf on it.
They also obey local clothing customs, such as covering their head with a scarf, which
Kate and Meghan both did when visiting a mosque while on tours in Pakistan and South Africa.
Number 24.
Queen Elizabeth is easy to spot in a crowd as she wears bright colors on every occasion.
And that’s on purpose.
The Queen knows that the public is there to catch a glimpse of her and those bright-colored
dresses and suits make her easy to find.
“She needs to stand out for people to be able to say ‘I saw the queen,'” daughter-in-law
Sophie, Countess of Wessex, explained in the documentary The Queen at 90.
“Don’t forget that when she turns up somewhere, the crowds are two, three, four, ten, 15 deep,
and someone wants to be able to say they saw a bit of the queen’s hat as she went past.”
Number 25.
Skip Showing Shoulders
Trooping the Colour is a pretty formal affair, which makes Meghan's wardrobe choice in 2018
even starker.
She wore an off-the-shoulder dress, which is supposedly against protocol.
However, Kate Middleton has worn off-the-shoulder dresses before too, so maybe it's not a big
concern.
Number 24.
Curtsies and bows are required
Men are supposed to bow their heads when addressing the Queen, while ladies are obliged to curtsy.
Curtsies, however, differ from the big gestures seen in vintage movies or stories of Disney
royalty in that they involve a modest and delicate dipping down with one knee behind
the other.
Number 23.
Jeans are only allowed at casual events
Jeans are only appropriate for the most relaxed occasions, according to Diana Mather of The
English Manner etiquette consultant.
Jeans are acceptable, for instance, if the duchess is walking the dogs outside.
Number 22.
The queen must formally approve of your wedding dress.
It is customary for the queen to approve of your wedding attire if you are a royal or
marry into the family.
According to reports, Queen Elizabeth had to give her blessing to Kate Middleton's Alexander
McQueen gown in 2011 and Meghan Markle's wedding dress to Prince Harry.
Wow, that was intense.
Number 21.
Just not anyone can wear a tiara.
Only the most opulent royal celebrations allow the wearing of tiaras, and brides often don
them for the first time.
For her 2011 nuptials to Prince William, Kate Middleton borrowed Queen Elizabeth's Cartier
Halo tiara, and she has also worn Princess Diana's tiara multiple times.
Tiaras are never worn by children or lone ladies.
Tiaras are only permitted to be worn by married ladies.
According to Geoffrey Munn, author of Tiaras - A History of Splendor, "it represents the
crowning of love and the loss of innocence to marriage."
"After the bride wore the family tiara, she was expected to wear the groom's jewelry going
forward.
It was a subtle hint that she had moved from one family to another.
Number 20.
No Ripped Jeans
Ripped jeans are a big no outside of private relaxing at home.
Meghan wore them during her first public occasion with Prince Harry, but notice that she hasn't
worn them again since — although she can now that she's not royal.
Number 19.
Dresses Over Pants
Just as she prefers heels to wedges, Queen Elizabeth reportedly prefers that royal ladies
wear dresses rather than pants.
That's not a hard and fast rule, as both Kate and Meghan have broken it a few times, but
Kate does generally try to wear dresses and skirts while in public.
Number 18.
Every Royal Bouquet Must Contain Myrtle
This is a sweet tradition that almost goes back two centuries.
The flower represents love and marriage, but that's not the only reason royal brides put
a sprig of it in their bouquet; it's also included because it's directly picked from
Queen Victoria's 170-year-old-garden, making it a family affair.
Number 17: You must bring a black outfit on every vacation.
One of the more somber regulations is that you should always have a spare black suit
on hand in case a family member passes away.
In this way, they will be adequately attired for the solemn occasion when they return to
the UK.
After the passing of King George VI, this rule was put into effect.
When her father passed away in 1952, the then-Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya.
She had to wait inside the plane for one to be delivered because she had forgotten to
bring a black change of clothing.
number 16: Prince George only dons shorts
In addition to being cute, George is frequently pictured wearing shorts since the British
nobility and monarchy have a long-standing custom of dressing boys in shorts.
Prince Louis is similarly affected.
“Trousers are for older boys and men, whereas shorts on young boys is one of those silent
class markers that we have in England,” said British etiquette expert William Hanson
in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK.
He said they start wearing pants around 8 years old.
Number 15.
Weighted hems aid in avoiding wardrobe mishaps.
Recall these pictures from 2011 of K. Mid's yellow Jenny Packham dress erratically catching
the wind on a tarmac?
Queen Elizabeth knows how to stop that.
One of her tailors, Parvin, told the Daily Mail that he attaches weights to the hem of
the queen's garments to keep them from flapping in the wind.
Surprisingly, Parvin told the publication, "It is nothing fancy."
"I use lead curtain weights from the curtain department at Peter Jones.
They are known as penny weights.
When you're a king, modesty is important, we suppose!
Number 14: Hair should be tidy and natural-looking.
Royal hair "should look easily and naturally lovely and neat," according to Vogue Australia,
which explains why they never sport bright hair colors or statement updos.
Number 13: Makeup should also be understated.
Not simply hair should be kept to a minimum.
It is also customary for royal women to wear "neat and natural" makeup, which accounts
for the lack of dramatic lips or smokey eyes.
The 12th rule is that coats shouldn't be removed in public.
It appears that this regulation is upheld because removing your coat is "unladylike."
So if you've ever wondered why Kate is almost always spotted wearing a coat to formal engagements,
now you know.
11.
Royal women may don uniforms as well.
Princess Anne, the daughter of Queen Elizabeth, has also been spotted in uniform during occasions
like Trooping the Colour.
Although Anne didn't serve in the military, she is an honorary admiral and, according
to Slate, she is the first royal lady to appear in public wearing military garb since the
16th century!
Number 10.
On certain occasions, men have to dress in military attire
Royals have worn military attire since the 19th century, particularly for state celebrations
and special events like Trooping the Colour and services honoring the British armed forces.
Another special occasion where a royal wore his uniform was Prince William’s marriage
to Kate Middleton in 2011.
According to Time, it’s also tradition for royal grooms to marry in their military uniforms.
Number 9: Avoid donning fur.
King Edward III ruled that no one, not even members of the royal family, could wear fur
in the fourteenth century.
The royal family of today doesn't wear a lot of furs, but it occasionally appears in hats,
scarves, and coat trimmings.
But there’s a picture where we can see the queen in a large fur coat during a 1994 visit
to Moscow, Russia.
Well, she makes the rules, so we guess she can break them too.
Number 8- Facial hair faux pas
When Prince Harry showed up at a Remembrance Day parade event with a full-out beard while
wearing his senior Blues and Royals officer uniform, some said he was violating British
military law even though he’d long been retired from service.
According to the Daily Mail, as long as it’s all “neat and tidy,” facial hair is A-okay.
As it turns out Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip sported a beard while serving in the
Royal Navy, and the Queen became besotted with him back in his beard-wearing heyday.
However, Vanity Fair reported, that it’s the Queen who isn’t a fan of her grandson’s
hipster look.
She said that she “intensely dislikes facial hair,” and expects her grandson to remove
it “sooner rather than later” according to the Telegraph.
Number 7: Royal visitors should dress to represent their nation.
When traveling abroad, it is customary for members of the royal family to honor the nation
they are visiting by donning its flag's color or an important symbol.
Kate, for instance, wore this maple-leaf cap on her Canada Day trip to Ottawa.
Number 6 is also strongly advised.
Gloves.
Up until the ’90s, gloves were still a common accessory for the royal family.
According to Vogue's former deputy editor Anna Harvey, she once ordered a dozen suede
gloves for Diana, but she never wore them.
“She wanted flesh-to-flesh contact,” Harvey said.
Today gloves are no longer necessary at black-tie events, but the Queen still favors them, especially
if she has to shake a lot of hands
If you were to don a pair of gloves for a royal event take note of these rules according
to Bustle.com: Wear them en route to the event, when shaking someone’s hand, standing in
a receiving line, or dancing.
You have to take them off when you’re eating (even if it’s just a quick canapé or nosh),
and they’re forbidden at the dinner table.
To take them off, you have to pull their finger by finger, and then rest them on your lap
underneath your napkin.
Number 5.
How to clutch
Like its own private language, using one’s clutch is the key to getting out of awkward
social moments and so much more.
For example, Queen Elizabeth uses her clutch to signal everything from when she wants to
leave an event, to when she needs to be saved from a tiresome conversation.
If that clutch is down at her side it might be time to go.
Lady Diana Spencer was known to use her clutch as a clever way to block her cleavage from
photographers when disembarking from vehicles.
And the Duchess of Cambridge now uses her clutch to avoid awkward social situations
as well, “(Kate) holds her bag in front of her in both hands when shaking hands might
be awkward,” Myka Meier, founder of Beaumont Etiquette, told Good Housekeeping.
Because Princess Diana frequently used her clutches to cover her chest, Anya Hindmarch,
the designer of her handbags, popularly referred to them as "cleavage bags."
In an interview with The Telegraph, Hindmarch remarked, "We used to chuckle when we designed
what she termed her 'cleavage bags,' small satin clutches that she would hide her cleavage
with when she stepped out of cars.
And in pictures, Princess Diana's clutch was always there to protect her chest from nosy
photographers whenever she got out of a car.
So creative!
4.
Wedge shoes are not allowed near the queen.
Although the queen doesn't seem to like the look, you may have seen this picture of Kate
playing volleyball with cork wedges all over the internet in 2013.
According to a royal source who spoke to Vanity Fair, "she genuinely doesn't like [wedges]
and it's well known among the women in the family."
Only when the queen was not present have Kate and Meghan worn the look more than once.
The heels shouldn’t be too high as well.
The royal women keep their heels at six inches or under for two reasons: First, so they aren’t
wobbling around while trying to walk at public appearances (fair), and second, so they don’t
appear too tall.
Number 3.
the queen has someone break her shoes in.
Elizabeth the First makes numerous royal appearances, all of which are typically needed for heels
or fancy footwear.
She spends most of her time on her feet, so having someone break into her shoes saves
her from the itchy rubbing and blisters that occur with wearing new shoes.
In an interview with Evening Standard, Designer Stewart Parvin stated, "The shoes have to
be immediately comfy...
Someone does wear them thanks to her.
The queen is never permitted to declare, "I'm uncomfortable; I can't walk any longer.
The queen's shoes will reportedly be broken in by a staff member who will wear a pair
of beige cotton ankle socks and can only move on the carpet at this time.
Dream position, yes?
Number 2.
Pantyhose are *highly* suggested
While not technically an official rule, it’s encouraged to wear pantyhose.
The duchess usually opts for pairs so sheer you can barely tell she’s wearing ’em
at all.
Number 1.
No Hats After 6 P.M.
Women aren't allowed to wear hats indoors after 6 p.m. for an excellent reason: That's
when the tiaras come out!
This rule gave women a chance to gracefully swap their demure hats for something a little
more flashy, putting on their family jewels with their evening dresses.
Also, tiaras aren't allowed to be worn during the day, so the evening hours are the only
time women had a chance to don them.
What are your opinions on this video?
Do you think these rules are unnecessary, or do you think this is what makes the Royal
family stand out from the rest?
Is there any rule you think must be altered?
Do let us know in the comments section below!
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