Not even the Royal Family has power over the weather, and the saying "There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing” is something the Queen and her dresser Angela Kelly appear to have adopted.
So she's ready to do a walkabout come rain or shine, the monarch has an impressive arsenal of over a hundred colour coordinated umbrellas.
There's a touching reason why Queen Elizabeth always uses the same transparent umbrella, with varying strips of colour at the bottom.
All of them are created by Fulton, who have held a Royal Warrant since 2008, but they were first designed twenty years earlier than that at the request of ER's mother: the Queen Mother.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Fulton owner Nigel Fulton said, “We were approached in 1988 by the Queen Mother to make a clear domed birdcage umbrella. It’s sturdy and very good for standing up to the elements.”
He added, “The point of the birdcage is that the royal can see out and people can see them. The Queen is our most famous customer. We started working with the Queen’s dress maker [Angela Kelly] in 2003 and we were awarded the royal warrant in 2008 which was a great honour.”
Sali Hughes, the author of Our Rainbow Queen, revealed in her book that Queen Elizabeth designs her wardrobe with the crowds she is greeting in mind.
Besides her transparent umbrella, Hughes wrote, “[Queen Elizabeth] wears bright colours because she believes it’s her duty to be seen by the people who’ve waited, wet and cold, behind barriers for hours at a time.”
“She understands her job is to be seen and, standing at just 5’3…[she] needs all the help she can get,” Hughes finished.
Fulton added that they work incredibly closely with the Queen’s close friend and dresser Angela Kelly before her appearances, so that the brollies not only serve a function but become a colour coordinated fashion statement.
He said, “We are shown colours or pattern references before the Queen wears her outfits and we simply follow instructions from her team. We match the trim, the handle, the tips, and the ferrule (the pointy bit at the end) in the desired fabric or colour.”
“The umbrellas are understated – we don’t want the umbrella to be the part of the outfit that shouts the loudest,” he continued.
The Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth were seen carrying clear umbrellas in the 70s and 80s before Fulton developed its birdcage umbrella.
The Queen Mother was seen in 1990 on her way to Ascot carrying around one of the domed umbrellas, as well as a grey raincoat.
In 1991 the Queen matched her beige trench coat to the beige accent on her umbrella at a visit to an air force base in Tampa.
Another early instance of her colour coordination was in 1995 at Sandringham, when her navy outfit was matched to an umbrella that a young Prince Harry held over her and the Queen Mother.
The same year, she was seen carrying a beige umbrella matched to the hue of her hat over the course of her South Africa tour.
As her colour choices grew bolder and more neon, so did her umbrella accents. In 2006, she carried a bright purple umbrella and the year following she went for a cobalt blue one.
Her lower-key looks get the same matchy-matchy treatment. Fulton were able to deliver on a grey umbrella in 2012 when she visited an exhibition in Richmond, while in 2012 on a visit to a Welsh school her all-white look was a hit.
Things got pretty interesting in 2015 when the Queen began to innovate her classic look, as Fulton added transparency to the bottom strip of her umbrellas - meaning that she could be seen no matter what.
On the rare occasion the Queen isn’t feeling a single colour, she’ll sometimes match her umbrellas to her white or black gloves instead.
It appears that her love of Fulton birdcage umbrellas has been passed down through the family, as Camilla Parker-Bowles and Kate Middleton have been seen carrying them around.
Although they haven’t quite cracked the level of coordination that Queen Elizabeth has, Kate and Prince William carried a black one to go with their black gown and suit to the premiere of War Horse.
The umbrellas retail on the Fulton site for £21+ and are available in a variety of colours, with special limited editions created by the likes of Lulu Guinness.
However some of the colour ways that Queen Elizabeth carries aren’t available on the site.
Where to buy Queen Elizabeth's umbrellas
Fulton Umbrellas Birdcage-1 in Black
£21 | Fulton Umbrellas | Buy it now
Fulton Umbrellas Birdcage-2 in Luxe Digital Blossom
£22 | Fulton Umbrellas | Buy it now
Fulton Umbrellas Birdcage-1 in Red
£21 | Fulton Umbrellas | Buy it now
Fulton Umbrellas Birdcage-2 in Candy Leopard
£22 | Fulton Umbrellas | Buy it now
