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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Nia Dalton

Queen always wore bright colours and never beige for touching reason

Queen Elizbeth II has been part of almost every era in fashion and has been commended by many designers and editors for her colourful collection of clothes. During her 70-year reign, Her Majesty never shied away from bright colours and would often be seen wearing eye-catching hot pink, royal blue and emerald green.

There was one colour the Queen rarely ever wore, and she once joked about the reason why - which is enough to make you laugh or cry, or both. Given her small stature, Elizabeth shunned from wearing beige as it stopped her from being spotted in a crowd. In his biography of the Queen, Robert Hardman wrote: "My favourite remark she ever said was, 'I can ever wear beige because nobody will know who I am."

Her Majesty always liked to be seen in a crowd (Getty)
She was a huge fan of bright colours and bold accessories (Getty)

The late monarch once said she needs to be "seen to be believed" - and her love of neon greens and fuchsia pinks in her wardrobe emulated this.

Her daughter-in-law, Sophie Wessex, who may become the Duchess of Edinburgh, once explained Her Majesty's colour palette in the documentary, Our Queen at Ninety.

She explained: "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.

She was afraid her fans wouldn't spot her wearing beige (Getty Images)

"She needs to stand out for people to be able to say 'I saw the Queen'."

Queen Elizabeth even attended London Fashion Week in 2018, and sat front row with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, when she awarded Richard Quinn for British Design.

Anna hailed Her Majesty's style and noted her "iconic 'uniform' suggested continuity and tradition".

As London Fashion Week kicks off this year, Paul Costelloe, 77, who has dressed many royal ladies from Princess Diana to Zara Philips and Sarah Ferguson, told Sky News he took much inspiration from the Queen.

Her style was praised by fashion designers and editors (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

"I think she always wore great colours," he beamed.

"As an Irishman we sort of look at the monarchy from a different point of view, and we very much respect, particularly her.

"I think some of these colours in the show very much reflect by sheer coincidence her sense of colour, greys, yellows, reds, bold orange.

"She loved positive colours and thank you, thank you, Queen, for wearing such wonderful colours."

The Queen attended London Fashion Week and sat front row in 2018 (Photo by Tristan Fewings/BFC/Getty Images)

When it came to dressing herself, the Queen didn't just open her wardrobe and pick her favourite, staple piece.

According to former royal butler, Paul Burrell, she chose her outfits - or as she called them, "costumes" - in a rather unusual way.

"The Queen has to have her outfits brought down to her, all her clothes are kept on the top floor," he told Yahoo's The Royal Box in 2019.

The Queen was a fashion icon in her own right (Getty)

"Her dresser will bring down two outfits in the morning, which are sketched with pieces of material clipped to them so that the Queen can remember whether it's silk or cotton or wool.

"The one the Queen picks is the one which is brought downstairs from up above so she doesn’t actually see her wardrobe with clothes in it."

The Queen would often re-wear her most-loved items of clothing, a trend that Kate Middleton has also continued.

Her Majesty was often spotted styling the same Launer handbag for 50 years (Getty Images)

There was one accessory the monarch was rarely seen without - her Launer handbag which she used for 50 years.

Her Majesty took it to official engagements, presidential visits and other key events, including her meeting with President Richard Nixon and Prime Minister Edward Heath in 1970, and when she welcomed Bill and Hillary Clinton to Buckingham Palace in 2000.

It even made an unexpected appearance in a portrait she had done last year.

You can now buy Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative

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