Queen Camilla Recreates Queen Elizabeth’s Most Iconic Look for Historic Meeting With Pope
Queen Camilla’s outfit echoed Queen Elizabeth’s 1980 Vatican visit, where she wore a similar black dress with long sleeves.
On October 23, King Charles and Queen Camilla embarked on a historic state visit to the Vatican to meet Pope Leo XIV. For the solemn occasion, the Queen Consort took a leaf from the late Queen Elizabeth's fashion book for her own papal visits. Camilla wore an all-black Fiona Clare dress and matching Philip Treacy mantilla, walking in the late Queen's sartorial shoes. Her ensemble reminded royal fans of the late monarch's 1980 meeting with Pope John Paul, when she wore a similar black floor-length dress with long sleeves.
Although it is no longer mandatory for non-Catholics to wear black around the Pope, Camilla chose to honor tradition with her thoughtful attire. Her silk gown featured a high neckline and long sleeves, accented with a silver 'raspberry pip' brooch that once belonged to her late mother-in-law. Her Philip Treacy mantilla drew attention with dark, leaf-like details on the headband, paired graciously with a long, sheer veil. Camilla's look echoed the Queen's Vatican visit, when she wore a floor-length black dress with matching gloves, purse, pearl necklace, earrings, and a sheer veil styled from a silver crown.
In the course of her long reign, the late Queen visited the Vatican twice. Her first trip was in 1961 to meet Pope John XXIII. For the occasion, she wore a pale, knee-length dress paired with a matching coat, gloves, hat, and classic pumps, reflecting the formal elegance of the early 1960s. She was the first monarch since the Reformation to officially visit the Holy See. There, she attended a private audience with the Pope, exchanged gifts, and participated in a brief tour of the Vatican grounds. Meanwhile, Camilla, as the Duchess of Cornwall, had accompanied then-Prince Charles on the 2009 and 2017 visits.
As for why both Queens couldn't wear white during their papal visits is rooted in tradition. The privilege of wearing white, known as 'il privilegio del bianco' or 'the privilege of the white,' is reserved exclusively for Catholic queens and princesses. Since the Church of England separated from the Catholic Church in 1534, neither Queen Elizabeth nor Camilla was permitted to wear white. It is also customary for women to wear a lace veil when meeting the Pope, though this rule does not apply outside the Vatican. This explains why the late Queen wore her signature pastel colored dresses when she met the Pope outside the Vatican.
Charles and Camilla's Vatican state visit coincided with the Jubilee Year, a special year of remission of sins, spiritual renewal, and celebration called by the Pope. On the first day, the King, Queen, and the Pope attended a prayer service at the Sistine Chapel. It broke a centuries-old tradition as reigning monarchs have avoided praying publicly with the pontiff since the 16th-century Reformation. For over 500 years, political and religious tensions following King Henry VIII’s split from the Catholic Church meant that sovereigns refrained from such acts of ecumenism. Charles and Camilla were initially set to visit the Vatican in April, but postponed it due to the late Pope Francis’s frail health.
