Kate, Meghan to wear black veils in keeping with tradition at Queen’s funeral

The Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex are tipped to wear items of special historical significance when the Queen is laid to rest.

Meghan on her way to a service for the Queen. Picture: Getty Images

There will be special significance to the mourning attire expected to be worn by Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle to the Queen’s funeral.

Keeping with tradition, the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex – along with other female members of the royal family – are tipped to wear black veils when the monarch is laid to rest at a state funeral on Monday.

Typically made of lace, tulle or netting, the royal veil dates far back in tradition, with both Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother wearing sheer, black veils to King George VI’s funeral in 1952.

A more modern example came last year, when Kate wore a short, netted veil attached to a headpiece to Prince Philip’s funeral – though the Queen herself chose not to wear one on the day of her husband’s funeral.

The funeral accessory has links to the Victorian era — Queen Victoria wore a veil for the rest of her life following the death of her husband, Prince Albert.

Jessica Storoschuk, a royal historian, said the funeral veil – steeped in tradition – shielded royals from displaying emotion in public.

“The tradition of mourning veils dates back several centuries, and has a basis in monastic dress,” Ms Storoschuk told the New York Post. Veils worn during periods of mourning were “often considered to be ‘armour’ and would shield their grief from the public”.

Catherine, Duchess of Kent, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pictured alongside Prince William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex after participating in the procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, to Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster. Picture: AFP

She noted that the length and size of mourning veils had evolved in the modern royal era and were now “often shorter and made of transparent materials”.

“(Kate’s) veil at Westminster Hall was quite short and of black mesh, which does reflect the current practice of ‘muted’ veils, if worn at all, Ms Storoschuk said, according to the Post, of the outfit Kate wore to mourn the Queen.

Jewellery is also expected to carry personal meaning at the Queen’s funeral.

Members of the royal family have already sported accessories gifted to them by the monarch during official engagements marking her death. Meghan wore a pair of pearl and diamond drop earrings gifted to her by the Queen as she attended the procession of the coffin yesterday.

The jewellery was a gift to Meghan by the Queen in honour of their first royal outing together in 2018.

Kate, Meghan and Queen Consort Camilla wore pearls – another traditional symbol of royal mourning – in tribute to the Queen, including pieces that belonged to the late monarch.

At Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, Kate wore a triple-strand pearl necklace that is believed to have been from the Queen’s personal jewellery collection, along with a pair of Her Majesty’s diamond-and-pearl earrings.

“The pearls were thought to represent tears — establishing a tradition that has lasted until the present day,” Maxwell Stone, of British jeweller Steven Stone, told the Post.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, travels behind a procession of the Queen’s coffin through London. Picture: Getty Images

KATE AND MEGHAN TAKE SEPARATE CARS

Earlier, The Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex travelled in separate cars behind a sombre procession of the Queen’s coffin as it moved through the streets of London.

While the world waited to see King Charles III walk with his feuding sons in a show of royal family unity, all eyes were on where Kate and Meghan would sit, too.

Not since a young Princess Diana and an ebullient Fergie joined “The Firm” in the eighties has the royal sisterhood been under such scrutiny.

The Princess of Wales sat with Camilla, Queen Consort. Picture: Getty Images

The two followed – in separate cars – behind senior royals walking behind the Queen’s coffin, as the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex, joined in reconciliation, in public at least, in honour of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

Draped in pearls, Kate sat in solemn silence beside Camilla, the Queen Consort, while Meghan and Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, sat in the car behind.

Dressed in black the two very different women – one, a Berkshire-born English rose, the other an American, former TV actress – sat in solemn silence throughout the 33-minute state procession along London’s Mall to Westminster Hall.

The Wales’ and the Sussexes at a service for the Queen. Picture: Getty Images

The four walked out of Westminster Hall after the service. Picture: AFP

As the cavalcade crawled at a slow and sombre pace, with drummers beating 75 beats a minute the two princes’ wives, the divide between the Waleses and the Sussexes was never more apparent.

Later, the Sussexes, held hands as they followed Prince William and Kate out of Westminster Hall following a service for the monarch as she begins a period of lying in state.

Heads bowed, Prince Harry appeared grief-stricken as the emotional procession drew to a close.

Prince William and Kate did not hold hands, but he put a supportive hand on her back.

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the service. Picture: Getty Images

Meghan bowed her head during the service. Picture: Getty Images

LITTLE IN COMMON

In reality Kate and Meghan have little in common. Their relationship has been icy and more markedly so since the Sussexes ditched life as working royals to live in California.

In the wake of the Queen’s death, the princes’ wives appeared in public for the first time in two years when they joined their husbands to view tributes left for the late monarch at Windsor.

The royals were sombre during the emotional day. Picture: AFP

Speculation over whether Meghan and Kate are “feuding” has been circulating for months with the former being branded “duchess difficult” by Palace insiders after Meghan’s aide Samantha Cohen resigned from her role.

There were also claims Kate had told Meghan not to berate members of her team after she reportedly “b****cked” one of Kate’s staff.

The faces on the royal family were etched in grief. Picture: AFP

The row – which the Palace has denied – followed rumours that Kate was “left in tears” during a “stressful” fitting for Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.

Whether that is enough to make them mortal enemies is a matter for conjecture.

The contrast between them was plain to see at the service at Westminster Hall when the women stood apart both elegantly dressed in ebony and a traditional mourning veil crafted from black netting.

But perhaps it was the one piece of adornment that signalled which of the two daughters-in- law the Queen preferred; Kate donned a large brooch composed of three leaves in a nod to her grandmother-in-law who previously wore it on a visit to South Korea in 1999.

In 2017, Kate donned the eye-catching brooch in Belgium for the 100th anniversary of Passchendaele, and it has remained in her jewellery box since.