The reason Queen Elizabeth II always wears bright coats
After more than six decades on the throne, Her Majesty has established a reputation as a sovereign style icon with her coat-dresses and iconic headwear.
Now, a few of the Queen’s wardrobe secrets have been revealed in a documentary called The Queen at 90.
The Queen’s daughter-in-law, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, revealed in the documentary that the Queen’s bold colours is a tactic for her to stick out in a crowd.
“She needs to stand out for people to be able to say ‘I saw the Queen,’ ” Sophie revealed in the documentary.
“Don’t forget that when she turns up somewhere, the crowds are two, three, four, 10, 15 deep – and someone wants to be able to say they saw a bit of the Queen’s hat as she went past.”
As well as her bright colours, the Queen also pairs her outfits with a designer handbag. Reportedly, the Queen owns more than 200 Launer London purses.
In the late 1960s, the Queen received her first bag from the brand and now she chooses to recycle her purses from throughout the years for various engagements. It is believed Buckingham Palace generally only commissions five bags per year.
However, the Queen’s purses are used for much more than just storing her essential items. Her Majesty reportedly sends signals to her staff, moving her bag from one hand to another when she is trying to wrap up a conversation.
“It would be done very nicely,” royal historian Hugo Vickers told PEOPLE. “Someone would come along and say, ‘Sir, the Archbishop of Canterbury would very much like to meet you.’”
If the Queen places her handbag on the table at dinner, it signals that she wants the event to end in the next five minutes, The Telegraph reported.
“If she puts her bag on the floor, it shows she’s not enjoying the conversation and wants to be rescued by her lady-in-waiting.”
According to couture designer Karl-Ludwig Rehse, who first started designing outfits for the Queen in 1988, her outfits are planned months before an event.
“It’s not the case that the Queen is going somewhere next week and thinks, ‘What am I going to wear?’” Rehse told CNN. “Sometimes it is six months, 12 months or longer.”
Scroll through the gallery above to see the Queen’s best brightly coloured coats.