How Princess Beatrice broke the rules with her outfit at Prince Philip's memorial

Penny Goldstone
By Penny Goldstone
published

The royal family held a memorial service for their beloved Prince Philip earlier this week, almost a year on from his death.

Royals from around the world turned up in force to pay their respects, and all dressed in sombre attire.

Kate Middleton wore a black and white polka dress, while the Queen was the only one to wear green for this specific reason.

Another member of the family who stood out with her outfit choice was Princess Beatrice, because she broke the rules, albeit in a very subtle way.

She wore a black coat dress by Nonoo Lyons - incidentally called Beatrice - as well as velvet pumps and a matching clutch bag.

(Image credit: 2022 Patrick van Katwijk)
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Beatrice also opted for a burgundy velvet floral headband which featured a small veil, which according to HELLO! is where she departed from tradition.

Much like white wedding dresses, facial veils at funerals were brought into fashion under Queen Victoria, though traditionally within the royal family, they are only worn for the funeral of a sovereign.

For example, the Queen, Queen Mother, Princess Mary and Princess Margaret all wore long black veils at King George VI's state funeral in 1952.

Prince Philip wasn't a reigning sovereign, nor was this his official funeral, since that happened in April last year, so Princess Beatrice wouldn't have officially been expected to wear the accessory.

Penny Goldstone
Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.

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