The Queen has never ever worn this item

Unlike Kate Middleton

Unlike Kate Middleton

You’ve seen the Queen in many glamorous ballgowns and bright power suits over the years, but if you think about it, there’s one thing you’ve never, ever seen her wear. It's something that probably 99% of us own and wear at least once a week too.

You see, her majesty, who turns 91 today, has never donned jeans in public. To be honest, we can’t imagine she’s worn them in private either.

In fact, Queen Liz has only ever worn trousers once while on duty, during her 1970 Royal Tour of Canada, where she wore a silk troupe suit by Ian Thomas, in a bid to modernise her look a little.

Other than that, she has a strict working wardrobe, which involves secret fittings and months of planning so she doesn’t wear the same colour for two engagements close together. She even has someone to break in her new shoes for her.

Now you might argue that she’s been spotted her in riding trousers or tartan trousers on her Balmoral estate, but that’s purely for practical reasons, and when she’s off duty.

On the other hand, while always looking on point in her high street and designer dresses, Kate Middleton does occasionally wear jeans for a more relaxed look on less formal engagements.

We'd like to think it's never too late to embrace the comfort of a good old pair of Levi's though.

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.