Since then, royals are thought to have been encouraged to pack a black outfit when travelling in case there is a death in the family or another sombre event, which they must be seen to show respect for.
"When her beloved husband died in 1861 she abandoned the colourful clothes of her married life and, with the rest of the royal court, adopted black clothing as an outward sign of grief.
The 'perpetual widow'
Following her husband Prince Albert's unexpected death in 1861, the monarch very publicly expressed her sorrow by wearing black every day for four decades until her own death.
Black mourning dress reached its peak during Queen Victoria's reign. She set the standard by wearing mourning for half of her life. With these standards in place, it was considered a social requisite to don black from anywhere between three months to two and a half years while grieving for a loved one or monarch.
When any member of the Royal Family travels to another country, they must always pack an all-black outfit. The reason being in case they have to attend a last-minute funeral in the host nation, or someone in the family were to pass away whilst they were abroad.
According to The Sun, the British Royal family are under a strict protocol that dictates only two royal mothers can wear orange. However, the other more common reason is it doesn't photograph well, and for royals with pale complexion, it can wash them out. Luckily, that's a problem a healthy dose of bronzer can fix.
In truth, the act of removing her outermost layer of clothing in public would be considered “unladylike,” per royal standards. Should she feel a little stuffy underneath all those layers, she must at least step out of sight of the cameras before taking off her coat.
The Queen wears bright pastel colours because she fears nobody would recognise her if she wore beige, a royal writer has claimed. Robert Hardman, the Queen's biographer, said the 85 year-old monarch was “engagingly modest” despite being the most famous woman in the world.
This story was previously published in 2019. When Queen Elizabeth I was 29, in 1562, she was struck down with what was believed to be a violent fever. Ordered by doctors to remain in her bed at Hampton Court Palace, it was soon clear that her illness was more than just a fever — she had the dreaded smallpox.
It is not an official rule, but traditionally, royals only wear black during funerals.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman reportedly said: “My favourite remark she ever said was: 'I can never wear beige because nobody will know who I am. '” According to the British author, the Queen wore neutral colours when she was relaxing at home but not at public events that required a smarter dress code.
The crown jewels
"The old rule is that hats are never worn indoors after 6pm, because that is when the ladies changed into evening dress, and tiaras and the family jewels would come out. "Flashy diamonds and tiaras are not worn during the day, and only married ladies wear tiaras."
In February 1952, when King George VI died, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were in Kenya. Upon hearing the news, the new monarch quickly rushed back to Britain on the royal jet but before she emerged on UK soil, a black dress was swiftly taken onboard for her to change into.
Black is standard for people to wear at a funeral because it symbolizes mourning and a somber occasion. The color black also shows respect for the deceased, and wearing other colors can be a “slap in the face,” according to some religions.
After the sudden death of her husband Prince Albert in 1861, she began wearing black. And did so every day for the next 40 years, until her own death. Since then, black has been a strict part of the Royal mourning dress code.
In the hours leading up to Buckingham Palace announcing the death of the Queen, BBC viewers noticed that newscasters had changed into black clothing, standard TV news practice at the time of a high-profile death.
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.
It is known however that she contracted smallpox in 1562 which left her face scarred. She took to wearing white lead makeup to cover the scars. In later life, she suffered the loss of her hair and her teeth, and in the last few years of her life, she refused to have a mirror in any of her rooms.
The Renaissance ideal of beauty was fair hair, a pallid complexion, bright eyes and red lips. Elizabeth was tall and striking, with pale skin and light red-gold hair. She exaggerated these features, particularly as she aged, and other women sought to emulate them.
Many have wondered what Her Majesty's favourite colour is - until now. Vogue magazine has studied every outfit she has worn in the last 12 months and found that blue is known as royal for a reason.
A good way to remember is that the queen always begins on her own color, unlike the king, who begins on the opposite-colored square. This also means that the board can easily be divided into two sides, the queenside and the kingside.
Placement and movement
With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts on a white square and the black queen starts on a black square—thus the mnemonics "queen gets her color", "queen on [her] [own] color", or "the dress [queen piece] matches the shoes [square]" (Latin: servat rēgīna colōrem).
Perhaps the most oft-transgressed maxim is touching a member of the royal family in a manner that goes beyond a formal handshake—a guideline that likely dates back to the Middle Ages, when, as the British historian Kate Williams has noted, “monarchs were divinely appointed to rule by God, so they were kind of seen as ...
It's believed that the royals prefer to avoid taking showers, due to their belief that they're for members of the working class. In other royal news, Kate Middleton wore a pair of £2 earrings and debuted brand new hair on her first day back at work since turning 40.
This comes amid reports that Kate and other senior female royals, like the Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie, may not wear tiaras at the grand royal occasion, which would be a break from tradition; royal women have historically worn tiaras at coronations.