Two Queens set their own styles
Two regal consorts are making interesting fashion statements as they settle into their new roles — chainmail, anyone?
Close your eyes and conjure up an image of Queen Elizabeth II. She’d likely be wearing a matching hat and coat in a bright colour, with pearls, brooch, and patent handbag carried by a gloved hand. That classic “queen” style was developed over the decades of her reign until it was startling to see her without those accoutrement.
Queen Camilla and Queen Mary, the queen consorts of the two newest monarchs in Europe, are showcasing their unique fashion styles, which, for one, includes a rather fabulous amount of chainmail, to say nothing about a skull-and-bones brooch.
QUEEN CAMILLA
“Oh, she’s done it again,” is what I thought upon seeing images of Queen Camilla at her first visit to the Royal Lancers since becoming the regiment’s colonel-in-chief. She wasn’t wearing her usual coat-and-dress combo for such a cool day, but instead was showing off a regal version of a formal military uniform. And it’s not the first time she’s donned such an adaption.
Her visit to the Royal Lancers’ base in North Yorkshire was a formal military event — she was received by a royal salute, inspected some of the 150-plus Lancers who were on parade, addressed her regiment, then took the salute as they conducted a march past. She even spoke of her father’s love of his time as a Lancer officer, including recollections of the help provided by NCOs: “They were very competent nannies with a decidedly un-nannylike capacity for beer.”
For that formal event, she wore a specially-created outfit that paid homage to the regimental uniforms, including its red collar, chainmail epaulettes, and even a diamond-encrusted version of the regiment’s skull-and-crossbones cap badge, which had been worn by the regiment’s previous colonel-in-chief, Queen Elizabeth II. The militaresque outfit was designed by Fiona Clare, one of Queen Camilla’s favourite designers (helpfully, Clare’s son is an officer in the regiment).
Queen Camilla’s outfit is unique among royal women in the House of Windsor. Other female royals wear civilian clothes, usually with a regimental brooch pinned to the outfit, to engagements with their military units — though Princess Anne does as Princess Anne wants to do, and often wears full military outfits (even choosing the male version of the Royal Navy uniform).
What makes the Royal Lancer outfit so notable is that it’s not the only adaption worn by Queen Camilla since her husband became monarch. And that repetition makes it a trend.
In June 2023, she stunned crowds in London at Trooping the Colour by wearing a version of uniform of the Grenadier Guards, of which she was appointed colonel six months previously. Again made by Fiona Clare, the red silk dress was the same shade as her regiment’s wool outfits while the epaulettes featured her rank insignia of a full colonel, and its gold-bullion-embroidered collar featured the regiment’s cap badge design: a “grenade fired proper.” Even the gold buttons were arranged in the correct spacing.
Queen Camilla’s outfit — even her plumed hat by Philip Treacy — harkened back to those worn for decades by Queen Elizabeth II. Until her Canadian horse Burmese retired in 1986, Elizabeth rode at the head of the parade, wearing her own version of regimental uniforms for Trooping the Colour, complete with a sidesaddle skirt. But that was the only event at which she wore such a military-inspired outfit.
In contrast, Queen Camilla’s decision to commission a Royal Lancers outfit suggests that those two outfits may be the start of a new royal style trend, though her clothing decisions haven’t been completely consistent: On her first visit to the Grenadier Guards in February 2023, she wore one of her regular day dresses (red, to be specific).
In commissioning those two outfits, Queen Camilla is sending a message that she’s comfortable enough in her new role as queen consort to change the way things have been done for decades. Because who doesn’t need a little chainmail in their lives?
QUEEN MARY
The Australian-born wife of King Frederik of Denmark is known for her sleek, elegant style, and fondness for adapting and tweaking outfits, including formal gowns, to keep them looking current as trends change. And like Camilla, she’s unafraid of making her new role her own while also honouring royal tradition. Those choices can be seen in new official photos of the King and Queen. They are called gala portraits — the most formal of all photos, usually chosen to be displayed in embassies and state institutions.
Some of her choices are traditional. In addition to the collar, star, and insignia of the country’s Order of the Elephant, she wears a miniature portrait of King Frederik, hanging from a bow of the Order of Dannebrog ribbon. While the portrait is new, the frame, with its large ring of diamonds, has been worn by a succession of queens, including her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe, until her abdication in January.
Far more interesting are her choices of jewellery and gown.
While Queen Margrethe delighted in her collection of elaborately full-skirted gowns made of stiffer taffetas and silks, Queen Mary chose a velvet-and-lace form-fitting gown, with a high collar and long sleeves, which is so all-encompassing that her emerald-and-diamond necklace vanishes into the lace on the bodice. That style decision means that there’s only one jewellery focus of the portrait: the tiara. Though Queen Mary previously wore several beautiful tiaras, she now has access to the crown jewels that are reserved exclusively for use by queens. For this portrait, she chose a historic emerald-and-diamond tiara made by jeweller C.M. Weisshaupt as a gift for Queen Caroline Amalie from her husband, Christian VIII, likely for their silver wedding anniversary in 1840.
Queen Margrethe usually wore the tiara seated high and back on her silver hair, while Mary chose to wear it in a more upright and forward position, using her brown hair as a backdrop to show off the tiara’s neoclassical design. It also looks like the tiara’s base has been widened for a better fit to her own head, with its base now wrapped in dark velvet rather than the light shade used to blend with Margrethe’s hair.
While her changes aren’t as dramatic as those of Queen Camilla, she’s also had less than four months in her new position — given time, she’s bound to introduce a few more surprises.
If past is any indication of her inclinations, those changes are unlikely to be the last she’ll make to the fabulous collection of jewellery that is usually on display in the Treasury at Rosenborg Castle. In 2010, she had a historic suite of ruby-and-diamond jewellery — which traces itself back to the Bonapartes in 1804 — both restored and modernized to suite her own style and to make it far more flexible. Since then, royal jewellery watchers have tracked as she mixes and matches the pieces of the suite in a dazzling number of combinations (the earrings alone can be worn in at least six different combinations).
Soon, we get to see the next style moves of the two queens. On Monday, May 6, Frederik and Mary undertake their first state visit, a trip to Sweden, which will undoubtedly feature the Danish Queen wearing yet more crown jewels. And in June, Queen Camilla will take part in her Trooping the Colour as queen consort as well as a state visit by the Emperor and Empress of Japan.