The Royal Family have always travelled with one item ever since 1952. There are a number of traditions and regulations they must follow when they travel abroad, and this one has been important ever since a royal travelled without it.
Royal protocol dictates that members of the Firm must take a black outfit with them when going on a royal tour, in the unfortunate event that someone passes away when they’re abroad. If this does happen, they are expected to wear black as a mark of respect.
The most recent example of this rule coming into effect was back in 1992 when Princess Diana’s father, Lord Spencer, passed away.
At the time, she was away on a skiing holiday with the then-Prince Charles. They quickly returned to the UK and were photographed both dressed in all-black attire.
Famously, the late Queen Elizabeth II was in Kenya on a safari with Prince Philip when her own father, King George VI, died in 1952.
The then-Princess, just 25, was without a mourning dress and, as a result, wasn’t allowed to be photographed until a suitable outfit was brought to her.
“They have to bring a black suit and tie, a dress or similar to be prepared if someone in the family dies while they’re away,” says royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams. “This is a rule that has been in place for over seven decades and is closely followed.”
In a Reader’s Digest article, Fitzwilliams says: “A royal has to be dressed appropriately at all times, and that includes sad circumstances.”
When Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022, all senior royals quickly changed into the right outfit.
The royals’ mourning outfit is traditionally all-black, even though other dark colours are technically acceptable too, reports Reader’s Digest.
Black is considered “the funeral colour,” as Fitzwilliams says, and it’s also the reason royals avoid wearing it at any other occasion, especially weddings: “It wouldn’t be appropriate, due to its connotation.”