Bare legs at a funeral?
Spaceship hats at a wedding?
These aren’t wardrobe malfunctions, these are outfits Princess Beatrice thought were appropriate!
Sigh, if only she had her “cleavage bag” to save her.
On October 12, 2018, Princess Eugenie and her fiancé Jack Brooksbank married.
Princess Beatrice was part of the wedding party and served as her sister's maid of honor.
While Beatrice looked stunning in an electric blue dress and matching headband, she broke tradition.
At a royal wedding, traditionally all the bridesmaid dresses are supposed to match the
color of the bride's dress, according to the Independent.
Princess Beatrice was the only one among the bridesmaids wearing a different color dress.
We're sure the bride, who has the same outgoing fashion sense as her sister, didn't mind at
all about the breaching of the royal dress code.
Guests attending the wedding or watching television may have been taken back a bit to see Beatrice
in the unique ensemble at Princess Eugenie's wedding.
According to OK!
Magazine, her reasoning for setting herself apart from the rest of the wedding party probably
was because she had the title of being the chief bridesmaid.
In March 2022, Princess Beatrice along with dignitaries and representatives from the Duke
of Edinburgh's patronages and charities all gathered at Westminster Abbey to honor the
life of the late Prince Philip.
At the service of thanksgiving, everyone in attendance was dressed in somber attire.
Princess Beatrice donned a black coat dress for the occasion.
In addition to the dress, she wore an oversized headband featuring a facial veil, which is
where Beatrice departed from royal dress rules.
Wearing a facial veil is considered a sign of respect for the deceased and the loved
ones of the wearer.
However, as far as royal tradition is concerned, black veils are only worn at funerals to honor
a sovereign who has died.
Philip was not a monarch, however, and this event was a special memorial service for the
duke, not a funeral.
So while it was a sweet way to pay respects to her grandfather, the Princess of York's
choice of donning a black veil did not fall in line with royal protocol.
As the royal family gathered on April 17, 2021, for the funeral of Prince Phillip, Princess
Beatrice was spotted arriving at Windsor Castle.
As reported by Express, she dressed in all black for the somber occasion to pay respects
to her grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Princess Beatrice wore a long black collared coat along with a black velvet fascinator.
While the royal did follow the traditional protocol for funerals by wearing all black,
she was also breaking it at the same time because she wasn't wearing any pantyhose.
According to royal expert Victoria Arbiter, wearing no stockings is a huge-no-no in the
royal etiquette book.
She explained why to Insider, saying:
"You never see a royal without their nude stockings.
I would say that's really the only hard, steadfast rule in terms of what the Queen requires."
Undoubtedly, this was an especially bold choice for Prince Philip's funeral service.
Back in 2015, Princess Beatrice attended the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty Fashion Gala
exhibition, showing up to the event with a bold red lip while donning a black tuxedo
dress by the late designer, according to the Daily Mail.
While Princess Beatrice wasn't at a royal engagement, her lipstick choice may have still
been frowned upon by the Queen because one of the most essential rules to adhere to is
sticking to a natural or neutral shade.
"Very unwieldy."
The Alexander Mcqueen black tuxedo gown that Princess Beatrice wore that night was sleeveless
and featured a thigh-high slit.
She completed her glamorous look that was reminiscent of a '50s Hollywood star with
a pair of black cutout stilettos.
While the high slit technically doesn't violate any rules, it is sometimes frowned upon because
royals aren't known for showing so much skin.
Alexandra Messervy, a royal expert told InStyle magazine:
"They don't usually wear sleeveless dresses, and they usually wear clothes which are not
too short in the hemline because of bending down and sitting in public.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2011 wedding was the talk of the town.
While the Princess of Wales' sparkly tiara and beautiful dress may have lit up the internet,
the award for the most significant viral hit from the royal wedding hands down goes to
Princess Beatrice's fascinator.
As reported by Harper's Bazaar, Beatrice donned a nude Valentino Haute Couture dress and a
one-of-a-kind headpiece designed by milliner Philip Treacy.
Princess Beatrice was strongly criticized for wearing the unusual piece.
Her headwear was dubbed "outlandish" and "pretzel hat" by the Daily Mail.
According to the outlet, Treacy was not expecting the harsh criticism.
He told BBC Radio 4:
"I thought I was making a little hat with a bow on it.
I didn't realize that I was on American Idol or X Factor and that it was judgment day.”
"I got a strong impression he was picking his words with care."
You sure about that, Beatrice?
Anyways, the internet was so fascinated by the fascinator that someone even created a
Facebook group named Princess Beatrice's Ridiculous Hat, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It gained over 130,000 followers who wrote numerous comments comparing her headpiece
to a spaceship and a toilet seat.
While Princess Beatrice was criticized for dressing too out-there at Prince William and
Kate Middleton's wedding back in 2011, she was also criticized for going too far in the
other direction at her other cousin's wedding.
For Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's nuptials in May 2018, Princess Beatrice may have been
trying to correct her previous wedding faux pas by skipping the fascinator altogether.
Instead, the Princess wore a simple headband that matched her lovely Roksanda Viola turquoise
dress with sheer sleeves and hundreds of beautiful beads.
Once again Beatrice stood out for the wrong reasons.
As etiquette expert, Diana Mather explained to the BBC:
"Up until the 1950s ladies were very seldom seen without a hat as it was not considered
'the thing' for ladies to show their hair in public.
But all that has changed and hats are now reserved for more formal occasions."
In August 2011, Princess Beatrice attended British heiress Petra Ecclestone's wedding
to James Stunt in Rome, Italy.
For the ceremony, Beatrice decided to deviate far from royal norms when she opted to wear
a strapless dress that showed a decent amount of cleavage.
“Isn’t it good, yes?”
“Have we thought of that?”
During an interview with Express, Jewelry Box marketing manager Daena Borrowman stated
that royals are expected to dress modestly when making public appearances, and noted
that quote, "royal women are discouraged from showing off their cleavage."
Once upon a time, royals didn't even show their shoulders or knees, and definitely not
their cleavage.
Princess Diana went to great lengths to avoid having her cleavage shown.
Handbag designer Anya Hindmarch told The Telegraph:
"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.”
Even though cleavage is typically a no-go for the women in the royal family, some royals
have bucked the tradition, including Meghan Markle and, from time to time, Kate Middleton.
While attending the V&A Museum summer party in London, England, in June 2017, Princess
Beatrice went against the usual demure style of the royal family.
Beatrice showed up to the event wearing a navy and nude dress accented with lace.
The "naked" dress was certainly on trend at the time, but Beatrice's ensemble likely ruffled
a few royal feathers.
As Wonderwall claimed, her see-through dress was a "monstrosity" that "missed the high-style
mark by a mile."
Princess Beatrice also wasn't wearing any stockings, which the queen frowned upon since
she prefered hosiery over bare legs.
In June 2020, Princess Beatrice surprised the world as news broke that she and fiancé
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi wed in an intimate secret ceremony at The Royal Chapel of All Saints,
according to BBC News.
For many reasons, the couple's socially distanced ceremony was definitely unlike any royal wedding.
While the wedding incorporated some meaningful customs, the couple bucked tradition in numerous ways.
Customarily, royal wedding bands are made from Welsh gold, per the royal family's official website.
However, Beatrice's wedding band and engagement ring are made of platinum and diamonds, which
were crafted as a set by British jeweler Shaun Leane.
Mozzi had a hand in creating her band and chose to go with platinum over the traditional gold.
Leane shared with the outlet that he and Mozzi designed the wedding ring in platinum so that
it would complement her engagement ring, saying:
"The rings have been made for each other, and there's a romance in that.”
While Princess Beatrice's wedding dress was not immodest in any form or fashion, she did
break the tradition of wearing a custom wedding gown by an esteemed designer as she walked
down the aisle.
Princess Beatrice instead opted to borrow one of Queen Elizabeth's vintage dresses and
made a few alterations to make her bridal look complete, which her grandmother approved.
While attending the 2016 Tommy Hilfiger women's spring fashion show in New York City, Princess
Beatrice looked chic in a white and black collared blouse with a textured black mini skirt.
According to reports, the queen was not a fan of short skirts and discouraged them from
being worn.
The queen held herself and the royal women to a very high standard so one could understand
why she would want skirts to be worn at a modest length.
Royal expert and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward told The Sun:
"It's hard to look elegant wearing a short skirt."
“Feminine cuts, I mean, I think uh, It works well for me!”
In 2018, Princess Beatrice served up some New York style while wearing an all-black
outfit to a gala held at the New York Public Library.
However, this color palette amongst royals is typically reserved for somber or commemorative
occasions like Remembrance Day or funerals.
While her look was edgy and on trend, Princess Beatrice was breaking royal guidelines as
black is not a color that royals should wear on any normal day.
Although it is not a hard rule that royals avoid black, it is common practice.
As Alexandra Messervy told InStyle:
"Generally it is thought that black is not usually worn unless in mourning, although
Diana Princess of Wales did occasionally wear it for evening functions, and The Duchess
of Cambridge has been known to do so.”