Queen Elizabeth II’s incredibly strict dress code at family gatherings

Fashion is at the heart of any royal gathering. Be it at a charity event, gala, or wedding, members of the royal troop are rarely seen without their glamorous garments.

Even during intimate family events, attendees are expected to come wearing their most dazzling ensembles.And it’s not just a happy coincidence. According to a friend of Prince Edward, who visited Sandringham estate in 1979, the royal family enforces a very strict dress code for visitors and family alike.

Speaking on fashion designer Amanda Wakeley’s podcast Style DNA, Tanya Rose, founder of the travel PR agency Mason Rose, revealed the stringent dress code she was sent before her visit. Before the stay, she was instructed to bring “four long dresses, four outfits for breakfast, four outfits for tea, shooting things, Barbour, [and] Wellington boots” with her.

It was a lifestyle Tanya was unfamiliar with, and she had to go out and “buy everything” in preparation. “I didn’t grow up like that,” she said.

Tanya, who was 14 at the time, travelled to the royal residence at the invitation of her then-Gordonstoun School friend, Prince Edward, in December 1979.

Awkward royal encounter

Dauntingly, she was the only non-royal to make the visit that year, a moment that she recalls in vivid detail. Tayna brought with her a fake pearl necklace, gifted by her mother, but found herself in a slightly awkward situation when the Queen Mother asked where it was from and if it was a family heirloom.

The PR responded by saying “My mummy did give it to me,” but didn’t share that it had been purchased from the department store, Fenwicks. As per royal tradition, at the end of the meal, the women of the royal family were sent to another room while the men remained, leaving her separated from Edward.

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Tanya was sent off with the Queen, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and Lady Susan Hussey, who was the Queen’s lady-in-waiting. She remembered feeling “terrified” to join the Royal Family, but was relieved to find Queen Elizabeth II there to help calm her nerves.”

The Queen was so divine because she knew I was nervous,” she said, adding that she was “lovely”, even making her laugh by doing impressions of her groom.

However, she remembered that the evening wasn’t wholly plain sailing. At one point, the then Prince Charles found her mistakenly adding salt to her coffee, believing it to be sugar. Charles had commented on the “extraordinary” decision to add salt to her coffee, much to her embarrassment.