Why Kate Middleton and The Royals Pack Important Item For Every Vacation

When the royals travel abroad they rarely travel light. From ballgowns and tiaras to multiple outfit changes for a single day, Kate, the Princess of Wales, and other working royal women have a varying list of items they pack when traveling for official tours and vacations—though one particular fashion staple is always close at hand.

An black outfit is a necessity when the royals travel. For men a dark suit and black tie, and for women, depending on location, a black dress or coat which can be quickly accessed if needed.

Any number of events could call for black to be worn, most notably to pay respect when someone has died, either a royal family member, a leading public figure in the host nation wherever a royal may be traveling, or a national disaster or tragedy.

Over the years, the royals have stuck to the motto “be prepared,” though in 1952 the need for those traveling to pack a black outfit was pulled into sharp focus when the monarch died while his heir was out of the country.

Queen Elizabeth II was a 25-year-old princess when she, and husband Prince Philip, were undertaking a tour on behalf of her father, King George VI, with the first stop being Kenya in Africa.

Days after arriving, the princess was told her father had died and that as the new queen she needed to return to Britain immediately. A problem she faced amid the grief and realization that she was now the queen, was when they discovered that she didn’t have any black clothing with her to wear on her arrival in London.

The queen’s lady-in-waiting and cousin, Lady Pamela Hicks, later revealed that a black dress and coat were “quickly smuggled aboard” the royal plane after it landed in Britain, where the monarch made a quick change before she was photographed by the press meeting Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

“We didn’t have a black dress,” she told daughter India Hicks’ podcast listeners in 2019, “So, she quickly had to change.”

The scene was famously dramatized in Netflix’s royal series The Crown.

The outward paying of tributes and recognizing loss is a core part of the significance placed on royal dress, royal fashion expert and celebrity stylist, Miranda Holder told Newsweek.

“The royal family’s style is far more than looking good—their wardrobes have, for centuries, had a language all of their own, with their outfits steeped in symbolism,” she said. “Whether it’s wearing a particular piece of jewelry to commemorate a loved one or a pertinent color to make a host country feel welcome.

“When a member of the family passes, the royals automatically turn to the only way they know how to pay their public respects and show their grief. Black being the symbolic color for mourning and grief in the Western world, and a tradition which dates back to Victorian times.

“It’s worth also noting that when a member of the royal family dies, it is very much a public loss—as demonstrated with Princess Diana and more recently her majesty the queen,” she continued.

The Kenya episode was not a mistake that Elizabeth is expected to have repeated after that, and a number of the late monarch’s family appear to have taken it as an example.

It is rare that the royals have had to change into black out of necessity when traveling, however, it was required of Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and Princess Diana while on a skiing vacation in 1988.

The couple were on vacation with Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson, the Duchess of York, and a group including royal equerry to Queen Elizabeth, and friend, Major Hugh Lindsay.

One day, when Diana and Fergie had returned to their lodge and Charles and a small group had continued skiing, disaster struck, when an avalanche occurred. Charles was safe, but a member of the party he was with was seriously hurt, while Lindsay tragically lost his life.

The royal party quickly returned to London, carrying with them Lindsay’s body in the royal plane. As they were photographed disembarking—like Queen Elizabeth in 1952—the group had changed into black outfits.

On why such importance is placed on royals like Kate and Queen Camilla—the two most senior royal women today—having a black outfit always on hand when away from home, Holder noted that this traditional form of respect is integral to the tradition of the monarchy.

“It would certainly be deemed disrespectful if the family wore another color in the mourning period—even in the ‘modern times’ of today and with the many changes King Charles is making to the slimmed-down monarchy,” she said.

“Pageantry and tradition is part of what makes the royal family ‘royal’ and we expect them to set an example for the rest of the world at all times, but particularly at a time of grief as we all, consciously or subconsciously, look to them for guidance.”

The royals have staff members to help when it comes to the wardrobe demands of their official lives. For the female members of the family, they are known as “dressers.” The most famous example of a royal dresser in recent times has been Angela Kelly, who worked for Queen Elizabeth II for more than 20 years. Her title was latterly upgraded to “Curator and Senior Dresser to Her Majesty The Queen (The Queen’s Jewellery, Insignias and Wardrobe).”

“It is absolutely the dresser’s job to work with the royals and make sure that wherever they travel, their wardrobes are prepared for every eventuality,” Holder said. “From all weathers to the sad event of an untimely death, a working royal must be sartorially prepared for everything.”

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.

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