The Queen jokes ‘if I wore beige, nobody would know who I am’
THE Queen is famous for her wardrobe full of bright power suits and colour-coded outfits – but it turns out, there’s one colour of the rainbow The Queen will NEVER wear.
According to royal biographer Robert Hardman, Her Majesty purposefully dresses in eye-catching colours to stand out when she’s attending royal events.
In his 2011 biography Our Queen, the royal author described The Queen as “engagingly modest” despite being one of the most famous women in the world.
He wrote: “My favourite remark she ever said was, ‘I can ever wear beige because nobody will know who I am.”
Although the Queen dresses in neutrals when she’s off-duty at Balmoral or Sandringham, she purposefully wears eye-catching colours to make it easy for crowds to spot her during royal events – after all, she is only 5ft 4″.
In her 2019 book Our Rainbow Queen, journalist and royal author Sali Hughes claimed that the Queen and her dressers also take Her Majesty’s itinerary into careful consideration before settling on an outfit.
“She won’t attend an engagement at a grassy venue, like a racecourse or garden party, in camouflaging green,” Sali wrote. “But she will happily deploy green to stand out where it’s needed.”
For instance, Her Majesty wore a vivid shade of lime for her official 90th birthday celebrations in 2016 “while her closest family surrounded her in respectful nudes and neutrals”.
The Queen also wore the eye-catching shade again when she travelled to Cheshire with her granddaughter-in-law Meghan Markle last year.
The expert also revealed that The Queen has “worn yellow gold, one of Australia’s national colours, on every royal tour of that country” and that pink, which was “once her favourite and most flattering colour”, has now become a “rarer treat” as she’s more often pictured in blues and purples.
What’s more, The Queen is presented with sketches of her outfits and material samples before getting dressed EVERY morning, according to Paul Burrell.
During an interview on Yahoo’s Royal Box, the former footman revealed that The Queen doesn’t actually own a wardrobe – and instead has a whole floor of Buckingham Palace dedicated to her clothes.
The Queen’s former designer also revealed that she has a “special servant” who wears in her shoes to make sure she never gets blisters.
In a 2012 interview with The Sunday Times, Stewart Parvin – who was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Her Majesty in 2007 – said: “[Her shoes] have to be immediately comfortable. She goes to get someone to wear them.”
The designer also revealed that he once kept a spreadsheet of her wardrobe – detailing the time, date and specifics of the event – to avoid The Queen wearing an outfit more than once.
In more Royal Family news, The Queen’s corgis are fed in “order of seniority” – and each has their own specially devised menu.
And The Queen is “upset and annoyed” about The Crown‘s “cruel” portrayal of Prince Philip.
Plus Boris Johnson’s girlfriend will meet The Queen at her Balmoral estate for an informal barbecue with the PM.