The royals will now have to wear this on official duties

(Image credit: 2019 Max Mumby/Indigo)

It’s hard to believe Prince Philip died less than a week ago, with the Queen by his side at Windsor Castle. In the days that followed, the Countess of Wessex opened up about Philip’s last momentsPrince Harry and Meghan Markle shared a touching tribute and so did Prince William and Kate Middleton.

It was announced that the royal consort would have a ceremonial royal funeral, in accordance with his last wishes, rather than a state funeral, which would be reserved for the reigning monarch.

This will happen on Saturday 17th April at Windsor Castle, and only 30 mourners will be in attendance, in compliance with current Covid restrictions.

There will be a strict dress code, which means Prince Harry and Prince William won't be wearing the same thing, with Harry in a suit and William in military uniform (the former was stripped of his military titles after stepping down from duties).

But even before the funeral, the entire family is required to wear dark colours, as well as black mourning bands on their left arms, in line with tradition.

Though there is of course not much travelling right now, royals would be required to pack the above items with them just in case another royal might die while they were away.

They are required to wear the bands to all official engagements (virtual or in person) during the official mourning period, which ends the day of the funeral. In this case, eight days.

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.