Queen Elizabeth Was “Emphatically Not Interested in Fashion” But Sent Messages With Her Clothes

For Queen Elizabeth, royal fashion was never about keeping up with the latest trends. As someone who was more at home in riding gear and a headscarf (even it was from Hermès), she wasn’t chasing down runway looks. But there was one aspect of fashion that the late Queen understood more than most: the art of communication. Over the course of her 70-year reign, every color, cut and accessory was carefully considered to send a message, whether it was to comfort a nation, represent the Commonwealth or acknowledge a cultural moment.

Now, a new play dives into five decades of Queen Elizabeth’s life, as told through her dresses and hats that quietly spoke volumes. Writing for the Times, author and Victoria screenwriter Daisy Goodwin—who penned the play, By Royal Appointment—shared how the late monarch used the soft power of fashion to speak when she wasn’t able to give her own views.

“In 2017, when announcing the Brexit bill at the state opening of parliament, she chose to wear a blue coat topped with a blue hat with yellow rosettes,” Goodwin wrote, noting the outfit’s “unmistakable” resemblance to the EU’s flag. “As one courtier remarked to a journalist who rang up to find out if the resemblance was deliberate: ‘Nothing is left to chance,'” she added.

“A hat is more than a piece of straw—on The Queen’s head it is a skillful piece of PR,” Goodwin noted, adding that the “EU” hat and coat are featured in By Royal Appointment. The playwright continued that the late monarch used color skillfully in various situations—and not just when she needed to be spotted in a crowd.