What Britain’s Royal family wears to Queen’s funeral will be dictated by tradition

The funeral for the late queen, who died aged 96 at her Balmoral estate in Scotland, will be held at Westminster Abbey in London.

Members of the royal family will all be in attendance, including the queen’s four children, her eight grandchildren and their spouses, along with several UK prime ministers including the current and past ones. What the royal family wears to the funeral will be dictated largely by tradition.

King Charles will wear a full-day ceremonial uniform with medals, and will carry the red velvet and gold Field Marshal Baton that the Queen presented to him in 2012, when he earned that designation.

As working members of the royal family, three of the queen’s children, King Charles, Prince Edward and Princess Anne will all wear military uniforms and medals. Her grandson Prince William will also be dressed in military uniform, according to Buckingham Palace.

Prince Charles reads the Queen’s speech next to her crown during the State Opening of Parliament, at the Palace of Westminster in London, May 10, 2022. In retrospect, it seems Queen Elizabeth II was preparing us all along for her death. Whether it was due to age, ill health or a sense that the end was near, she spent much of the last two years tying up loose ends, making sure the family firm would keep ticking along. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool, File)

Women are expected to wear black dresses and formal hats, while men will wear black coats. Working members of the royal family traditionally wear military uniforms, while non-working men wear back coats, as was seen at the Queen’s husband Prince Phillip’s funeral last year.

Decisions around Royal dress codes have been a source of some controversy ahead of this funeral. The Palace initially announced that Prince Harry would not be allowed to wear his military uniform since he chose to step down from his duties, the Metro newspaper reported.

When he did this, he was stripped of all military titles. Once a Royal is no longer in active military service, they are deemed to be ‘civilians’, and so not allowed to wear a military dress. They are allowed to still wear their medals on their black suits, as Prince Harry did during a mourning procession for the Queen, the report said.

Prince William, Kate, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II as the coffin rests in Westminster Hall for her Lying-in State. (Christopher Furlong/Pool Photo via AP)

This caused public outcry as it was announced that an exception would be made for fellow non-working royal Prince Andrew, who unlike Harry was forced to step down, and would be allowed to wear his military uniform.

Now, the Palace has announced that Prince Andrew will only wear his uniform ‘as a special mark of respect’ at the final vigil at Westminster Hall. At the request of his father King Charles, Harry will wear his uniform at a vigil by the Queen’s grandchildren the following evening, the report said.

The mourning period has been shortened these days, but the black clothes stick around. The rule is so strict that members of the royal family must always travel with a black outfit in their suitcase, so if a Royal dies while members of the family are abroad, they won’t be caught in public wearing any other colour.

Black was briefly retired in 1938, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandmother, the Countess of Strathmore. A photograph shows the Queen Mother wearing a white dress designed by Norman Hartnell to honor her mother’s passing.

The concept of “white mourning” followed the example of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was painted in a white mourning dress after she lost multiple family members in the 16th century, CNN said in a report.

Queen Victoria is known for popularising the mourning dress. 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.

Prince William, Prince Harry, King Charles III and Princess Anne follow the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, London. (Jeff J Mitchell/Pool via AP)

Since then, black has been a strict part of the Royal mourning dress code. On Monday, members of the royal family will wear black, as they have since the queen’s death was announced.

Long, black, face-covering veils are also a common sight at state funerals, a tradition that is believed to have started with Queen Victoria. For women, that means black knee-length dresses or coats and black hats. For men not in military attire, that means black morning coats, ABC News reported.

For Princess Grace of Monaco’s funeral in 1982, Princess Diana wore a black straw hat with a black veil.

For the queen’s funeral, the female members of the royal family are likely to follow tradition in wearing black veils – known as mourning veils – that fully or partially cover their face, the report said.

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