When you're a member of the royal family, there are a lot of written and unwritten rules you have to abide by in order to uphold a proper reputation.
There's an etiquette for nearly everything, from how you sit to the clothes you wear. For instance, a royal must pack a spare black outfit in case a relative dies while they're travelling. This will ensure that they're dressed appropriately upon returning home.
Although there are many rules that apply to both the men and women in the family, some are specifically tailored to the females.
Royal women are required to wear hats to all formal events, and for events held indoors after 6 p.m., married women can swap the hat for a tiara.
You'll also notice that Queen Elizabeth II, Kate Middleton, and even Meghan Markle do not show cleavage while out and about. That's because they're not allowed to. If a dress is a little too revealing, Kate has been known to cover her chest with her clutch.
Royal women are also barred from wearing colorful nail polish. For decades, the Queen's manicured nails have only been painted with Essie's "Ballet Slippers," a pretty pale pink. Kate and Meghan are also always spotted with soft shades on their nails.
Still, even with all these rules, the royal women have found loopholes, so they can show off their individual styles.
Princess Diana was known for her classy yet functional outfits, while Kate is a fan of mixing different prints and textures. As for the monarch, she loves wearing bright colors.
While many have long believed that she wears these colorful two-piece outfits and coats because she loves color, there's actually more to the story.
The Queen's daughter-in-law, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, revealed why the head of the royal family chooses to wear bright colors in the documentary The Queen at 90, and it's not the reason we were expecting at all.
Apparently, Her Majesty wants people to easily spot her in a crowd, and the colorful clothes help her stand out.
"She needs to stand out for people to be able to say 'I saw the Queen.' Don't forget that when she turns up somewhere, the crowds are two, three, four, 10, 15 deep, and someone wants to be able to say they saw a bit of the queen's hat as she went past," Sophie explained.
The Queen really does have the public's best interest in mind when she makes certain decisions. Even the hats she wears are carefully picked to match her bold ensembles and make her even more visible.
"The Queen has always been aware that she needs to stand out from the crowd, and it is for this reason that millinery has always played an important role in her wardrobe," Caroline de Guitaut, the curator at the Royal Collection Trust, told The New York Times.
She added, "[The hats] enable people who want to catch a glimpse of her to spot her immediately. Almost every hat she wears is strategic, ensuring her face is fully visible but also framed in a range of styles over the years that were often considered very avant-garde for their day."
While the Queen has bee spotted in a rainbow of colors over the years, her favorite color is actually blue. She has worn the color in different shades during her reign, but when it comes to her accessories, she keeps it classy with black.
She's carried the same black Launer purse for decades, and rumor has it that she owns 200 of them!
Let's take a look back at some of the style moments that made the Queen stand out from the rest:
1. At her 88th birthday celebration
2. Visit to Blois, France in 1992
3. At the Royal Variety Performance in 1999
4. At the Britannia naming ceremony at Ocean Cruise Terminal in 2015
5. During her 90th birthday parade
6. During the 2008 Slovakia tour
7. A visit to the Royal Academy of Arts
8. Her Majesty in Winnipeg, Canada
Which look is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
