Could the royal family’s latest troubles usher in a new era of diplomatic dressing?
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s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was taken into police custody last week, his brother King Charles made a “surprise” appearance on the front row at the opening of London fashion week. Styled in one of his staple jaunty ties, clashing pocket handkerchief and British-made suit, it sent the message loud and clear: this was business as usual.
That message persisted when, at the Baftas at the weekend, the Prince and Princess of Wales showed a united front in coordinated burgundy velvet (“Pantone diplomacy”, as the New York Times put it). Catherine’s blush Gucci gown showed not just solidarity in hue but also, arguably, signalled her ethics in a week when the royal family’s came under fire: she’d worn the dress before, on a previous outing.
“The king’s whole look – with his British bespoke tailored suit – might be construed as putting on a brave face, and keeping calm and carrying on during yet another existential crisis,” says Justine Picardie, former editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar UK and author of a new book, Fashioning the Crown: A Story of Power, Conflict and Couture. “For Catherine, it is another expression of her taking a sustainable approach, and showing restraint, rather than excess.”
