What we can learn from Princess Anne’s 'no stylist' approach to royal tours
Newsflash: Princess Anne has been pictured wearing the same garment more than once during her royal tour of Australia and Papua New Guinea to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
This wouldn’t be remarkable if I were talking about a civilian’s travel wardrobe. For most of us, suitcase space is limited unless you’re prepared to pay for extra baggage, so it’s a bonus if we can get multiple wears out of a single piece of clothing - especially an item as versatile as Anne’s navy double-breasted blazer. But royal tours are different, particularly when it comes to female members of The Firm.
The broad appeal of Princess Diana in the Eighties meant that every one of her outfits came under scrutiny. Fast forward to 2022 and the Duchess of Cambridge is staging 10-day long fashion shows when she goes on tour, each look meticulously planned so that it meets the demands and the social politics of the occasion while delivering in the style stakes too.
Anne being Anne doesn’t feel the need to make such a big splash with her tourdrobe. Yet it’s clear that she understands the nuances of dressing for a royal tour like nobody else, whether it’s the politics of brooches or an outfit that can accommodate a garland of flowers. At 71, she has more than seven decades of experience of royal life, so choosing an outfit that can take her from a sombre visit to the Bomana Cemetery in Port Moresby to the Papua New Guinea Adventure Park is second nature.
It still comes as a surprise, though, that she hasn’t travelled with a ‘glam squad’, the unofficial collective term for the fashion stylist, hair stylist and makeup artist that is now de rigueur for a high profile woman when she is faced with a string of engagements.
Perhaps she didn’t need any help steaming the creases out of her clothing or putting ensembles together. She was, after all, seen carrying her own hand luggage when she disembarked her plane in Sydney yesterday. It suggests she’s more than capable of taking care of her own wardrobe, hair and makeup too - and that’s no mean feat if you consider the humidity she likely experienced in Papua New Guinea.
Back to the clothes though, because packing well is an art form; one in which she’s evidently rather skilled. Her tourdrobe was largely comprised of tailored suiting in pale, buttery silks and linens that look smart and polished without being too stuffy. An ultramarine shirt with one trouser suit proved to be a sophisticated way to add colour; an emerald silk pussy-bow dress looked appropriate for an evening event without going over the top. You get the sense that if Anne was a regular traveller like you and me, she’d be one of those people that breezes through the arrivals hall with cabin baggage only, and yet still have a different outfit for every holiday occasion - no hand-washing of clothes in the hotel bathroom sink required.
There is even something charming about her fondness for those wraparound sports sunglasses. It’s an element which serves to remind us that Anne has packed with function rather than fashion moments in mind - chic as that androgynous cream pinstriped trouser suit may be. These clothes and accessories are simply the ‘uniform’ she uses for work, along with The Order of Logohu medallion she wore while hosting an investiture ceremony at Government House in Port Moresby.
“My bet is that Anne couldn’t actually give two hoots about what she wears, mostly preferring practicality over studied glamour,” says Bethan Holt, the Telegraph’s Fashion Director and a royal style expert. “She seems to approach her wardrobe with the same attitude that she does her public role; unshowy but determined to do everything just right.”
While it’s unlikely that Anne has been on a shopping spree for this tour, there are some subtle updates which indicate that she is au fait with current trends. The bateau neckline of a white T-shirt, a mannish pinstripe trouser suit, a wrap-style jacket which defines her slim waist. Her handbag (a slouchy style in cream leather) is tucked under her arm like a clutch, so as not to ruin the line of her suit. For another engagement, she wore a deep red floral print Nehru coat by Gloucestershire-based label Shibumi.
“There’s nothing ostentatious or too extravagant about her wardrobe,” says Annabel Hodin, a personal stylist who has worked with television royalty Anne Robinson. “Wearing a tailored silhouette in one colour head-to-toe is the easiest way to travel and dress well, and also the Queen’s go to solution.”
She is not without guidance though. Just as the Duchess of Cambridge works with personal assistant Natasha Archer, and the Queen’s wardrobe has long been overseen by Angela Kelly, Anne has the help of a dresser back home. Amy Morris-Adams, the milliner who designed both of the hats worn on the Australian leg of the tour, says that she works closely with members of the Princess Royal’s team.
“I always work with the dresser and the dressmaker who bring drawings and fabrics of each design, if not the finished outfit,” she says. “I choose a few options that may suit her, and Her Royal Highness will have the final decision on the style for that particular outfit.” These hats were commissioned a couple of years ago, she adds: “The green was commissioned first, and as we knew the style suited, then made the cream.”
We know that Anne had a sustainable approach to style since long before sustainability became a fashion buzzword. She may have an array of custom garments, but they’ll remain in her wardrobe rotation for decades, sometimes tweaked and altered, but rarely discarded in favour of something new. At Royal Ascot in 2015 she opted for a belted coat she first wore 35 years earlier. She also has a lilac coat which has worn several times in public since 1979.
This is an approach that Morris-Adams has been a part of as well, “retrimming, remodelling and repairing” hats that Anne already owned.
And in a way, this is the secret to her quiet, elegant style success. Anne looks like she has always looked - like Princess Anne - proving to all of us that if you find a look that suits you, stick with it - regardless of prevailing trends - because whatever you’re doing, wherever you are, people will see you, the individual first, rather than the outfit.
