How Kate once broke the Queen’s number one fashion rule

There is a pretty strict royal fashion etiquette to follow when you're part of the royal family, whether you're a man or a woman.

The rules go a long way to explaining why Kate Middleton always carries a clutch bag, and Princess Diana never wore gloves for example - or why royal family members never take this off in public.

However, some rules were made to be broken, and with Meghan Markle et al being only human after all, these things do happen.

Take the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant for example, which happened on 3rd June 2012. It saw Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth ll, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge board the royal barge 'Spirit of Chartwell', to parade along the Thames to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952.

During the event, both the Queen and Camilla wore understated outfits, opting for ivory and cream colours, while Kate went for a bright red ensemble with matching hat. So far, so normal right?

Except that usually, bright colours are Her Majesty's signature look, since they mean she stands out from the crowd and so can easily be seen, not only by the public, but by her aides.

Of course, there are no rules that dictate that she is the only royal allowed to wear bright colours, but it's usually custom for her to be the centre of attention when they are all out in force, especially for such a special occasion.

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.