COLUMN by Clair Hughes
Clair Hughes is an independent scholar. She previously held the position of Professor of English and American Literature at the International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan. She is the author of Hats (2017), Dressed in Fiction (2005) and Henry James and the Art of Dress (2001)
Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary and Queen Mother watch the body of the King being placed in Westminster Abbey, 15 February 1952
Royalty
Codes of conduct, social historian Clive Aslet observes, have now been privatised and modern man has never been more on his own. Traditional etiquette survives in some contexts – hats are still seen at weddings, race meetings and royal events – but what of funerals? Traditionally, these codes have ‘trickled down’ from
the élite. A mourning etiquette, established in the 19th century, marked the depth of grief through dress. Widows wore black for a year, their bonnets often veiled to the floor. Bonnets rather than hats were initially considered appropriate for funerals, but styles evolved mid-century from face-concealing bonnets to smaller, more open styles in the ‘70’s, and later to the toques and large hats of 1900. After six months, veils could be shortened, then omitted for half-mourning. In England, because the monarch is both head of
state and head of the Church, royal funerals require the deepest mourning. Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022 ended a reign of seventy years, a period in which conventions had eased in line with changing times. Veils, however, still seem de rigueur for royal funerals – Jackie Kennedy’s veil in 1963 felt appropriately ‘royal’, given the national tragedy of JFK’s death. The significance of royal mourning veils harks back to
Queen Victoria, who, after the death of Prince Albert in 1861, wore floor-length mourning for the rest of her life, testing the patience of her subjects. At King George V’s funeral more than seventy years later, male royals carried black silk top hats, while the women, not visibly hatted, were heavily veiled. Queen Mary’s veil was almost floor- length, the princesses’ veils shorter; the wreath of violets beneath Princess Marina’s was a typically elegant touch. During the royal visit to Paris in 1938, the new Queen Elizabeth – in mourning for her mother – seemingly broke
Veiled and Unveiled
with convention by adopting an all-white wardrobe. In the political context, however, white was seen as a gesture of solidarity with France – designer Norman Hartnell drew on a medieval tradition of mourning white for French queens. Elizabeth’s hats, in white silk, lace and tulle, were veil-less, flowery and frothy, antidotes to darkening times and radiant in the Paris sunshine. The death in 1952 of Elizabeth’s father, George VI, was
marked by the tragic image of three Queens: Queen Mary in black to the floor, her knee-length veil falling from a ‘Marie Stuart’ widow’s cap; a waist-length veil falling from Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s brimmed hat; and young Queen Elizabeth’s close-fitting felt supporting a shorter veil. Hats are now clearly apparent and veils shorter. A year later, at Queen Mary’s funeral, mourning
etiquette still held, though the veils of the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth were shoulder-length and lighter, their overcoats less voluminous. The Duchess of Windsor, widow of ex-King Edward VIII, was not invited, but in 1972, at Edward’s funeral, her gossamer-fine, waist-length veil over a chic Givenchy pillbox was a clear, even vengeful, claim to royalty – on this occasion neither the Queen nor the Queen Mother was veiled. In 1997, at Princess Diana’s funeral, Royalty’s popularity
was at an all-time low. While the face veil falling from the Queen Mother’s halo hat softened the evidence of her advanced years, its use of a royal tradition struck a kindlier note than the Queen’s classic black, but veil-less felt.
National sympathy returned in 2021 with the poignant
image of Queen Elizabeth at Prince Philip’s funeral, alone and isolated by Covid, in her plain, lightly veiled hat and black face mask. Mourning etiquette had all but vanished, but Royalty still spoke its silent language through veils.
august 2026 | 57
Photo: Alamy
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