Why you'll never see the Queen wearing these colours on Christmas Day


There are plenty of rules concerning what the royals wear on Christmas Day, and they naturally involve many outfit changes. If you think I'm exaggerating, wait 'til you hear the Queen has seven outfits on the big day.
Looking back at previous years, we know how much Her Majesty likes wearing bright colours, especially to attend their annual Christmas Day service at Sandringham Church, so the crowd can spot her easily.
She's worn blue, orange and pink in the past, however there are certain colours you will never see her wear on the 25th December. Why? Well it's all to do with her Christmas speech.
In her book The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, Angela Kelly, the Queen's dresser, said she has to think carefully about what looks good on screen.
'Firstly, I ask what colours and decorations they’re planning to use for the scene and they’ll give me a detailed description, including which furniture will be featured and how the tree will be decorated. I then pick out a selection of outfits for The Queen based on the colours chosen for the setting,' she says.
She steers away from green, as that would clash with the tree, and red, since it doesn't show well on screen.
'Ultimately, I leave it up to the production team to decide on the final outfit as the camera crews and producers know what will work and what won’t: red, for example, is difficult to capture on camera, and in green, Her Majesty might disappear into the background, depending on the positioning of the tree,' Angela concludes.
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Penny Goldstone is the Contributing Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK. She writes about catwalk trends and the latest high street and Instagram sartorial must-haves. She also helms the Women Who Win franchise.
She has worked in fashion for over 10 years, contributing to publications such as Cosmopolitan, Red, Good Housekeeping, and Stylist.
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