Queen finally recognised as fashion icon
WHILE Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle might cause meltdowns among their fashionista fan clubs — it’s the Queen who at 92, has redefined her sovereign style status this year, despite not changing a thing.
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FOR more than 65 years Queen Elizabeth II has been reigning sartorial supreme.
While royal grand daughter-in-laws the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, and The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle might cause meltdowns among their fashionista fan clubs, it’s the Queen who at 92, has redefined her sovereign style status this year, despite not changing a thing.
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She’s famous for her meticulously colour-matched ensembles, timeless tailored coats and bold millinery, paired back with reliable classics including white gloves, black handbag and court shoes, brooches and her three-strand pearl necklace — a gift from her father George VI.
Even at her most casual and candid — on the rolling hills of her Balmoral estate — the Queen’s style still exudes sophistication and grace, in silk headscarves and tartan skirts.
Unlike the wardrobes of the next-gen royals, trends have no place in the Queen’s wardrobe, having carved out a niche look that strikes a consistent and delicate balance between being both proper and approachable.
It’s a style that has served her majesty well over the years, seamlessly suited to her exhausting schedule of myriad engagements, from garden parties to horse races, but with the Queen being reintroduced to a new generation via Netflix series The Crown, she is being embraced more than ever by millennial monarchists and has created somewhat of a fashion frenzy.
In February, QEII made her first appearance at London Fashion Week, presenting the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design, which recognises emerging design talent to Richard Quinn and taking a seat on the frow (the front row) for his show, next to fashion’s own queen, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour.
Seated beside Wintour was the woman credited with the Lizzie’s new era of style, Angela Kelly.
Kelly, whose formal title is Personal Advisor to her Majesty (The Queen’s Wardrobe), has been responsible for maintaining, curating, and designing the Queen’s wardrobe for over a decade. She helped design the canary yellow outfit worn by the Queen to William and Kate’s wedding in 2011, while a press release from Buckingham Palace revealed Kelly was also the mastermind behind the Queen’s fashion award, spending more than two years designing the concept.
Since the Queen’s first Fashion Week foray, she has continued to prove herself quite the fashion plate; receiving praise from fashion commentators around the world for her polished ensembles including the Stuart Parvin silk tweed coat, purple floral dress and matching hat, worn to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May; the cerulean blue outfit worn to Trooping of the Colour and the canary yellow coat and hat, featuring bursts of blue hydrangea, which she wore this week to Royal Ascot.
Never one to shy away from happy hues, the Queen allegedly dresses in bright colours so she can always be spotted in the crowd.
“You have to be able to see that figure in a lemon coat and hat from far away,” Hugo Vickers, the Queen’s biographer, told the New York Times. And as Meghan learned on her first solo trip with the Queen to Cheshire last week, it’s hard to steal the limelight from someone, when they are wearing a citrusy shade of lime themselves.
QUEEN’S SECRET HANDBAG SIGNALS
Her handbag has become a talking point among fashion circles with her go-to Launer purse, which is said to contain a mirror, lipstick, a pen, some mint lozenges, reading glasses and on Sundays, some small bills to give as a church donation.
But her purse is also believed to be used as a communication tool to send signals to her staff.
“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, referring to the signal used to indicate to staff that she’s ready to wrap up her current conversation.
According to the Telegraph, if she puts her handbag on the table at dinner, it means she wants the event to end in the next five minutes. And if she puts her bag on the floor, it shows she’s not enjoying the conversation and wants to be rescued by her lady-in-waiting.
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