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Why Queen Elizabeth wore the same outfit twice in a month

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Updated on June 17, 2021

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According to experts, the Queen has made the unusual decision of wearing the same clothing twice this month as a discreet gesture of grieving her late husband Prince Philip.

Being able to have a great wardrobe is one of the advantages of being a royal. The women of the palace could easily go a year without wearing the same garment again, although they do recycle favorite ensembles from time to time since they have so many.

The Duchess of Cambridge, whose elegant style has wowed the public, has been photographed wearing the same gorgeous outfits several times, including a Jenny Packham gown and a black Diane Von Furstenberg gown, demonstrating that repeating clothes is acceptable even if you have royal status.

However, Queen Elizabeth is sworn to follow tighter restrictions than other of her family members, particularly when it comes to her attire.

The Queen’s birthday procession took held in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle for the second year in a row, rather than down The Mall and Horse Guard’s parade in London, followed by a family balcony appearance at Buckingham Palace as is traditional. Her Majesty also celebrated her formal birthday without her spouse, Prince Philip, for the first time in decades.

The Queen wore a Lilac dress coat and hat adorned with yellow flowers for her annual official birthday celebration, “Trooping the Colour,” which she had already worn twice. According to royal experts, it’s the monarch’s subliminal way of expressing her grief following the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in April this year, according to The Telegraph.

The Queen wore the same outfit at the State Opening of Parliament back in May. (Image: Chris Jackson/PA Wire)

She wore the same dress to the State Opening of Parliament only a few weeks before.

Monarchs are usually only allowed to wear the same outfit twice, but Her Majesty has been photographed wearing the same lilac coat three times now, according to MyLondon.

You might be wondering whether the Queen and her crew made a fashion faux pas, but don’t worry, they didn’t.

In reality, following the death of her husband, Prince Philip, on April 9, the Queen was following a centuries-old custom.

Widows were required to wear exclusively black mourning clothing for the first two years after their husbands died, and then they were expected to wear ‘second mourning’ clothes in modest colors like grey and lilac following that period.

According to the Telegraph, the Queen is giving this tradition a modern twist by wearing mourning colors for formal royal ceremonies like Trooping the Colour.

This explains why, at recent occasions such as the G7 Summit, she has continued to wear brightly colored skirts and jackets.

It’s a subtle way of demonstrating to the world that her beloved Prince Philip is always on her mind. Elizabeth is a frugal woman who has lived through historical adversity such as World War II, so she may not have wanted to spend the money on a special muted-color coat only for her birthday parade.

“Mourning dress has been part of European royal culture for centuries,” Matthew Storey, curator at Historic Royal Palaces, told the outlet, “but it reached its peak in the 19th century with the influence of Queen Victoria, who set a standard for the rest of society to follow.”

“Widows were required to wear black, then either white or mauve, for at least three years before being able to return to richly coloured clothing.”

After the death of her husband Prince Albert in 1861, Queen Victoria, the longest-reigning British monarch before the reigning Queen, went into mourning and wore black for the rest of her life. In the years that followed, she avoided public appearances and rarely visited London, earning her the moniker “Widow of Windsor.”

The Queen has been frugal with her wardrobe throughout her reign, frequently re-wearing the same garments and having them modified as needed. Despite never having to consider the principles of ‘second mourning’ as a widow before, Her Majesty did not commissioned a new outfit for the occasion – the dove grey coat and hat worn twice in the last few weeks were first worn at Royal Ascot on Ladies’ Day in 2019, the last time the event was held with a crowd of dressed-up spectators.