Back in the 1960s, the monarch re-wore her custom-made gowns at high-profile events, including the Norman Hartnell dress that Princess Beatrice borrowed for her wedding day in 2020. The Queen's personal dresser, Angela Kelly, previously explained how the royal's repeat-wears were always carefully considered.
Not only is Kate Middleton known for her exquisite taste, from her Alexander McQueen dresses to her festive Catherine Walker coats, but the Princess of Wales is also known for keeping those outfits in a steady rotation. It turns out, rewearing outfits is a do for the royals.
Sometimes, the Queen of Britain, Her Royal Majesty Elizabeth II, needs to change clothes up to five times a day – in the case of big celebrations, for example. And not simply the dress she's wearing but the shoes, gloves, jewelry, medals and other accessories and, most important, her hats.
Clothing that was of less historical significance is likely set to be given to family members — and her granddaughters and great-granddaughters could be in for a windfall. “Items from the Queen's personal collection would have been passed to her family members with each chosen personally by Her Majesty.
According to Brian Hoey, author of Not In Front of the Corgis, the queen regularly gave her old clothes to her dressers. From there, they could either keep the pieces, wear them, or sell them. Hoey notes that if pieces were sold, buyers couldn't know that the clothes came from Her Majesty.
What about the Queen and other members of the royal family? The late Queen made her own money, paid as part of the Sovereign Grant, and totals millions of dollars per year. Because of this, she was free to buy her own clothes, but no doubt has a self-set clothing allowance as well.
Such is the genius of her turn toward frumpy fashion: The queen uses her modesty as a tool to pacify her advisers, so that they remain her cooperative informants. But the dowdiness of her clothes is merely a comforting lie. Underneath her ill-fitting garments lies an experienced, determined, resilient woman.
The Lord Chamberlain poignantly "broke" his Wand of Office over the coffin, and placed the pieces there. Finally, the coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault, as the Dean of Windsor read Psalm 103, including the emotional line, "Go forth upon thy journey from this world, O Christian soul."
So what did Kate Middleton inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Radar Online reported in September 2022 that Kate was expected to inherit $110 million in jewelry from the Queen's personal jewelry collection, which includes 300 pieces that belonged specifically to the Queen and not the Crown.
The crown, orb and sceptre symbolise the monarch's power and governance and so its removal separated the Queen from her crown for the last time following her 70-year reign.
In fact, she even does her own dishes, according to one royal source. Speaking to The Telegraph, royal expert and author Harry Mount recalled a former royal courtier once told him: "I was once at a shooting lunch. At the end of lunch, I heard someone say, 'I'll do the washing-up'.
The Queen has five dressers, but she physically dresses herself. It takes a small team to help the Queen look gorgeous: there's Kelly, a deputy dresser and three assistant dressers. But they're just there to lay everything out for her and help her with a zipper or a difficult piece of jewelry.
The Queen has a bath every morning, drawn by her maid while she sips a cup of tea. It's believed that the royals prefer to avoid taking showers, due to their belief that they're for members of the working class.
Sometimes she'll recycle outfits from years ago. (We'd love to know how many palace rooms are occupied by Kate's old clothing.) Still, even when she does rewear an outfit, she usually changes her accessories or shoes or some other detail to make the second look stand out.
While the Princess of Wales is famous for repeat wearing, her sister-in-law Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, often recycles her wardrobe, too.
Hence all those headlines about “Kate, the royal re-wearer”. No matter that the Queen and Princess Anne have been doing that all their lives, in the age of fast fashion, Kate's repeat outfits were Big News. It's no longer (much of) a story when Kate wears something more than once. It's part of her MO.
According to Forbes, Harry\x27s grandmother Queen Elizabeth did not leave him anything from her $100 million estate when she died. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving Windsor Castle for their ... non-working royals and therefore do not receive any public money.
Representatives told Forbes in 2021 that Harry was not a beneficiary of any of the $100 million left to the royal family by his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother. It's unclear if Harry was left any money from his grandmother the late Queen Elizabeth II, whose will is expected to stay sealed for at least 90 years.
Though they could still receive interest from the trust upon turning 25, they wouldn't inherit the full sum until they turned 30. By the time both princes were 30, the residuary estate amounted to £10 million (about $16 million) for each of them.
Hauled by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy sailors will use ropes to pull the queen's lead-lined coffin mounted on a gun carriage from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey.
Royal Navy sailors have the honour of pulling the State Ceremonial Gun Carriage bearing the Queen's coffin for two miles through the streets of London – a duty they have performed since the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.
The King and his two sons reunited to walk behind the Queen's coffin as she left Buckingham Palace for the last time. King Charles, the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex accompanied the monarch on the journey to Westminster Hall for her lying in state.
The only time the Queen was photographed in pants was during the Royal Tour of Canada in 1970, when a young tailor crafted her a matte-silk trouser suit in an effort to update her look. Apparently it never stuck, and the moment has become the only time the royal wore trousers in public.
Smallpox left many scars and blemishes on her skin. In her youth, Elizabeth used little makeup, but after her battle with smallpox, she began to wear more makeup, creating what we think of today as her iconic look.
Minimal makeup
Queen Elizabeth II seldom wore little more than lipstick and a hint of blush for her public appearances, and called upon Clarins Compact Powder for her complexion (the brand made an exclusive lipstick to match her suit for Coronation Day in 1953 to celebrate the Queen's loyalty to them).