Why Queen Camilla wore a black dress and veil to meet Pope Leo

The Queen wore an all-black ensemble and a veil as she and the King carried out a historic state visit to Vatican City on Thursday. While Camilla’s outfit may have deviated from her usual vibrant wardrobe, it was a choice that adhered to a dress code when meeting Pope Leo XIV.

Protocol for papal audiences traditionally requires women to wear a black modest dress with sleeves, as well as a black mantilla (a lace or silk veil or shawl worn over the head). The Queen donned a black silk dress by Fiona Clare with a Philip Treacy mantilla and the late Queen Elizabeth II’s “raspberry pip” brooch in the shape of a cross.

Camilla adhered to the same dress code during a private meeting with the late Pope Francis at the Vatican in April, who died later that month, but she did not wear a veil on that occasion.

There is an exception to the protocol, known as “le privilège du blanc” (the privilege of the white), a custom of the Catholic Church that permits certain designated female royals – who are all queens or princesses of Catholic countries – to wear white clothing during an audience with the Pope.

Only seven royal women are granted this privilege: Queen Letizia of Spain, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Princess Charlene of Monaco, Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, as well as two former queens, Queen Paolo of Belgium and Queen Sofia of Spain.

Princess Charlene used this privilege for the first time in Monegasque history in January 2013, wearing white when meeting Pope Benedict XVI. Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain was said to have been the first royal woman to exercise this right during a private audience with Pope Pius XI in November 2023.

The King and Queen were formally welcomed by representatives from the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican, when they stepped off their plane at the military base Ciampino 31st Wing Airport in Rome on Wednesday.

During the welcome the King said: “It is wonderful to be able to come back to Rome.” And Camilla, who wore a feather print silk dress by Fiona Clare and brown cashmere trench coat by Anna Valentine, said: “It is a great pleasure to be here.”