Princess Diana Always Broke This Royal Rule

While the life of a British Royal is glamorous, filled with luxury, money, and power galore, there are certainly many fashion rules that one has to follow. There are many rules that the Queen of England expects her family members, particularly the women, to follow when representing the Royal Family and the British nation.

Princess Diana, before her untimely death, did her best to stick to the royal conventions, but there was one royal rule she could not follow: no painting fingernails in bright colors. Diana fought against this rule and was often caught with what became her trademark bright red nails, which the Queen definitely did not approve of.

While Diana was also known for her iconic blue eyeliner, this makeup style was not against the rules, and Diana did eventually stop wearing it when her makeup artist begged her not to.

This royal rule about not painting nails in bright colors is still in effect today, and it is something that even Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle abide by. That is why you will always see their fingernails painted in light, neutral colors or with clear varnish. Queen Elizabeth herself wears Essie’s nail polish called Ballet Slippers, which is a very light shade of pink, and she has been wearing the same color for the last 28 years.

However, the other women of the Royal Family today often break some fashion rules themselves. Meghan Markle, the new Duchess of Sussex, was recently in the news for not wearing pantyhose with her black tuxedo dress to a charity performance of Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London in August and instead went about with bare legs. While she also decided not to wear pantyhose in her engagement photos with Prince Harry, this was the first time she had broken the fashion rule since becoming the Duchess of Sussex.

Even Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, who is known to generally follow all of the royal edicts about behavior and fashion, flouts one rule in particular: wearing diamonds before 6 p.m.

“Other jewels are worn pre-6 pm,” Royal etiquette expert Myka Meier told News.com.au. “Before 6 pm, you’ll see metallics, gemstones, pearls, sapphires. At night, you’ll see the diamonds come out, and that’s in order to not come across as flashy in your appearance.”

The only exception to this diamond rule is marital or religious jewelry.

While the Royals do their best to follow the fashion rules handed down by the Queen, every one of them has managed to break one rule or another at some point.