Why Only These 7 Women in the World Are Allowed to Wear White When Meeting the Pope

How the Dress Code for Royal Women Meeting the Pope Changed

When the current Queen Consort, Camilla, was still the Duchess of Cornwall, she met Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. During that meeting, she wore the customary black dress with long sleeves and a lace mantilla, or veil.

This dress code had been observed by women for centuries when meeting His Holiness. However, in April 2017, when Camilla met the now-late Pope Francis, she chose a pale gold dress and coat by Anna Valentine.

The Queen Consort opted not to wear headwear, seemingly defying the Vatican’s dress code. However, her look was not an issue, as Pope Francis welcomed the change. A Vatican spokesperson once explained, “Things have become more relaxed over the last few years [sic] there are no hard and fast rules.”

Since Camilla’s husband, King Charles III, is the head of the Anglican Church, she was required to wear black instead of white during her audience with the pope. When she met Pope Francis two weeks before his death during her royal tour of Italy, she wore a black dress with cropped sleeves and a knee-length skirt.

The meeting marked her first papal audience since her husband’s accession in September 2022. She respected a nuanced rule, as she does not have permission to wear white for such meetings.

When the now-late Queen Elizabeth met with the pope, she always wore black. However, since Francis became pope, Elizabeth has chosen to stick to her signature colorful style when meeting him. For instance, in 2014, she wore a lilac suit with a matching hat.

While wearing colors may now be acceptable, wearing white is reserved for a few. So when, in 2006, when Cherie Blair did exactly that when she met Pope Benedict XVI, subsequent headlines mocked her, stating that she had a “grand idea of herself.”

In the past, white dresses were only permitted for a few Catholic queens and princesses. When Princess Charlene of Monaco met Pope Francis in January 2016, she adhered to the “privilège du blanc” in French or “il privilegio del bianco” in Italian, meaning “privilege of the white.”

She wore a white jacket, matching driving gloves, a mantilla, and nude heels. The only color she added to her ensemble was her red lipstick. Besides Charlene, only six other queens and senior female royals worldwide officially qualify for the “privilège du blanc” dress code.

They include Queen Letizia of Spain, Queen Sofia of Spain, Belgium’s Queen Mathilde and Queen Paola, Grand Duchess María Teresa of Luxembourg, and Princess Marina of Naples.