How thoughtful! Queen Elizabeth is known for her very colorful wardrobe, but the 92-year-old monarch actually wears bright clothes for her royal fans. During The Queen at 90 documentary, the Queen‘s daughter-in-law Sophie, Countess of Wessex, revealed that Elizabeth chooses frocks in rainbow colors so people can easily see her while standing in a crowd of people.
“She needs to stand out for people to be able to say ‘I saw the Queen.’ 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,” Sophie confessed.
And it’s not just the Queen’s outfits that require a lot of thought — Elizabeth carefully chooses each of her hats to match her rainbow of ensembles. “The Queen has always been aware that she needs to stand out from the crowd, and it is for this reason that millinery has always played an important role in her wardrobe,” Caroline de Guitaut, the curator at the Royal Collection Trust, once told The New York Times.
“[The hats] enable people who want to catch a glimpse of her to spot her immediately. Almost every hat she wears is strategic, ensuring her face is fully visible but also framed in a range of styles over the years that were often considered very avant-garde for their day,” de Guitaut explained. So cool, right?!
While the Queen’s bold outfits range in color from red, blue, pink, and purple — did you know her favorite color is actually blue? — her shoes and purses are usually classic black. Interestingly, Elizabeth has carried the same black Launer handbag for decades and is thought to own around 200 of the exact same bag. She may be in her 90s, but the Queen will always be a style icon to us!
The Queen looked glamorous in bold red while visiting Windsor Castle back in 2010.
Bright orange was the colorful hue Queen Elizabeth chose for a London outing in March 2018.
The monarch looked pretty in spring yellow at the 2017 Epsom Derby Festival.
Blue was the hue the Queen chose for a 2017 London school visit.
Queen Elizabeth looked pretty in pink at the 2017 Royal Ascot.
The Queen rocked this bright purple look for a February 2011 royal outing.
This article originally appeared on Closer Weekly.
