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Princess Anne’s choice to wear the late Queen’s coat shows a sense of emotion and of timeless taste
The Princess wore a purple jacket inherited from her mother’s wardrobe for a recent visit to Nottingham
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Princess Anne paid tribute to her late mother’s fashion legacy by wearing a jacket inherited from her wardrobe for a visit to Nottingham on Tuesday.
The Princess Royal wore a purple checked velvet coat, believed to have been originally designed for the Queen by her dressmaker Angela Kelly around the year 2005. It was a choice that at once showed a sense of emotion, of environmental consciousness and of timeless taste.
Elizabeth II wore the piece as part of a practical, travel-ready outfit in public on two occasions - in 2006 and 2010 - both times for a private cruise with her family aboard the Hebridean Princess. It is believed that she wore this jacket primarily in her private life, meaning that it may hold more specific memories for the Princess Royal.
This is the latest visible example of the Royal family passing clothes down through generations. It’s a practice that is centuries old, yet the rewearing of modern clothing items, rather than preserving them in an archive behind closed doors, feels poignant given the health status of the current King, and the relative recency of the late Queen’s passing.
![Princess Anne wearing the late monarch's coat](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/fashion/2024/02/07/TELEMMGLPICT000365554143_17073237173620_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqx1rGucoo2J_ExhuM2sOt-4XYXonGmLHMiv_Nv9kpPHk.jpeg?imwidth=350)
![Queen Elizabeth II wore the piece as part of a practical, travel-ready outfit in public on two occasions](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/fashion/2024/02/07/TELEMMGLPICT000365561766_17073238012240_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqrauIH4hQ-JZVc_eMuCeD9EiI3Hd64SdMNhyEGBSNwB8.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Items from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip’s wardrobes have so far been reimagined by the Princess Royal, King Charles and Princess Eugenie in a mixture of formal and casual settings.
Princess Anne previously wore Elizabeth II’s Admiral’s Cloak to a church service in London in November - an elegant wool cape that was immortalised by the Queen in famous portraits by Cecil Beaton (1968) and Annie Leibovitz (2007).
King Charles, meanwhile, wore his father Prince Philip’s camel coat in April 2023, highlighting the long-lasting quality of the British-made garment, which the late Duke of Edinburgh had debuted 67 years prior.
![The late Duke of Edinburgh wore the camel coat for the first time in public at Badminton Horse Trials in 1956](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/fashion/2024/02/07/TELEMMGLPICT000365528720_17073039194140_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqzEtXRB0DXuIn2fl79S5BHX10IUxeJFVVhtjrxIXJkqc.jpeg?imwidth=350)
![The then-Prince Charles in the same coat in 2005](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/fashion/2024/02/07/TELEMMGLPICT000331161525_17073041499260_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Princess Beatrice has given us arguably the most high-profile example so far. Her 2020 wedding dress was a vintage Norman Hartnell gown, worn by the Queen in 1962. Her Majesty was photographed beside her granddaughter, clearly pleased with the reconfigured design.
![The late Queen wore wedding the gown in 1962](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/fashion/2024/02/07/TELEMMGLPICT000235512638_17073037602720_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqYomg1LzXaFubKVfAqrenmGDr_-SaCFF-RYCOTLTc5RA.jpeg?imwidth=350)
![Princess Beatrice's wedding dress went on public display at Windsor Castle](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/fashion/2024/02/07/TELEMMGLPICT000240099044_17073038216640_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqtT15ANeighrLYGD2Laco1P07zDr-GhvtNCxA11HcluU.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Princess Anne’s latest look is, by contrast, one of the more casual reinterpretations. The late Queen preferred to wear this coat with trousers (an item generally less seen in her public wardrobe), yet Anne matched her mother’s styling by adding a printed silk scarf.
Making the outfit feel hers was easy with the addition of her Fairfax & Favor Regina boots - a tassel-trimmed equestrian-inspired style that has become a staple in her country-to-city wardrobe.
Anne has been praised in recent years as the Royal family’s ‘unexpected’ fashion star, a woman who by avoiding mainstream trends and fads has managed to maintain a sense of timeless personal style. Her penchant for rewearing items from her own wardrobe that are, in some cases, decades old, chimes with the fashion world’s current focus on sustainability. It is also worth noting that Anne was doing this long before eco-fashion became a buzzword.
Anne has likely inherited several pieces from her late mother’s wardrobe, and in the coming months we may see more of those introduced into her daily outfits. In rewearing her mother’s hand-me-downs, she adds another layer to her own timeless style philosophy - and certainly gives fans on social media something to get excited about. Commenters on the Royal Fashion Police Instagram account were quick to call the sartorial tribute “the sweetest thing” whilst also highlighting the pure comfort of wearing the clothes of someone you loved after they have died.
As well as the garments themselves, the late Queen evidently passed down to her daughter an appreciation for quality clothing that doesn’t date. Now the Princess can honour and illustrate those principles by wearing the actual clothing items she has inherited on a public stage.
We may also see the rewearing of the late Queen’s gowns and jewels in the coming months, allowing the Royal family and the public to remember what a fashion icon she was. Yet arguably, it is the casual everyday items that are most emblematic of the person (and the mother) who was known only behind closed doors.