Royal Family Outfits That Were Beyond Controversial

It's hard not to be labeled controversial when you're a member of the British royal family. The world is watching your every move, and pretty much every one has an opinion on how you should dress. Then there are those pesky fashion rules and regulations to follow, like only wearing neutral nail polishes and avoiding skirts that are considered too short. "It's all about being modest, elegant and not risking a scandal or causing a media fuss," etiquette expert Laura Windsor explained to Reader's Digest.

When you're not born into royalty, it can be even harder to adapt your wardrobe to these guidelines. That's something the likes of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Princess Diana found out the hard way. Meghan even admitted that being a working royal made her overhaul her approach to fashion. "[It] changed everything in terms of how I then looked at putting an outfit together," she told The New York Times in August 2024, referring to the attention her royal fashion received. That came after a few controversial looks from the Duchess, though she's certainly not the only one who's worn something that got the world talking.

One of the royals' most notorious fashion mishaps happened in 2012 when William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, paid a visit to the Solomon Islands. Traditionally, royals wear outfits with a connection to where they are, so it didn't go down well when they sported outfits that originated in the Cook Islands. William and Kate's fashion mishap caused such a stir that a government spokesperson issued a statement to Daily Mail that read, "We are incredibly frustrated that this situation has come about."

To quell the chatter, Kate and William's Clarence House PR team also issued a statement. It claimed the royals had asked if their outfits were appropriate before they wore them and were given the green light. "It was not learned until later in the evening that the clothes weren't from the islands. But it was understood that the Duke and Duchess intended to wear traditional Solomon Island clothes and this was appreciated. No offence was caused," Clarence House claimed (via The Telegraph). Controversy, though? That was certainly caused.

It may not seem like a big deal for us mere mortals to expose our shoulders. When you're a working royal, though? It causes a whole lot of chatter. That's exactly what happened in 2018 when Meghan Markle wore a light pink off the shoulder dress by Carolina Herrera to the annual Trooping the Colour celebration.

Amid speculation exposed shoulders are against royal protocol, some fashion experts called out the former "Suits" star. "It's very unusual to see a member of the royal household baring her shoulders. Especially at a daytime event like that," fashion critic Mark Heyes said on the British morning show "Lorraine" (via Express). A former palace official also criticized the newlywed for the light-colored look, telling Daily Mail, "She looked like she was going to a cocktail party rather than the formality of the Queen's birthday parade." Ouch. Heyes added, "It's a difficult act to pull off, and these are early days, but maybe she's trying to be a little too cutting edge."

While attending a 1994 Vanity Fair party, the late Princess Diana wore and iconic look that became of the most talked about royal outfits in history. The sweetheart neckline, off the shoulder Christina Stambolian-designed black dress was dubbed "The Revenge Dress" (something Taylor Swift knows a thing or two about) because she wore it after splitting with King Charles. The dress was stunning, but it showed quite a lot of skin for a royal — which is exactly why Diana wore it.

Farrah May Archer Boadi, Stitch Fix's lead stylist, told Express that Diana knew the sexy LBD would be talked about, so she purposefully wore it the same night a notorious BBC interview aired in the U.K. In it, Charles opened up about being unfaithful to Diana with his now wife, Queen Camilla. Kerry Taylor, whose company auctioned the black dress in 2013, noted to Reader's Digest, "While some would have been like, 'I can't face it this evening,' Diana went out in that dress looking drop-dead gorgeous. She made a big statement." She sure did.

Princess Michael of Kent, Born Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz, had to apologize in 2017 after she wore a blackamoor brooch to the late Queen's yearly Christmas gathering. The wife of Prince Michael of Kent's choice was hotly debated because the bedazzled brooch appeared to depict a black person and the company's pieces had been known to depict slaves. Princess Michael wore it to meet Meghan Markle, who is mixed race and has been open about the difficulties she'd faced being in an interracial relationship. "This is disgusting," one person claimed on X. Another wrote, "Disgusting and crass, with a hugely overblown false sense of superiority."

The accessory caused such a furore Princess Michael of Kent issued an apology via her representative. "The brooch was a gift and has been worn many times before. Princess Michael is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offense," the statement read (via People).

In 2017, Meghan Markle wore ripped jeans for her first major event by Prince Harry's side at the Invictus Games. And the world noticed. "Meghan Markle's first official appearance w/ Prince Harry, all eyes on her — and she wears ripped jeans?" one person questioned on X (formerly known as Twitter). The Sun even published a story asking "Is ripped-jean fan Meghan Markle shreddy to be royal?" in which editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward, scathed, "It was such a significant moment for the couple to be forever immortalised by her messy appearance." 

The widespread attention the Duchess of Sussex's casual jeans received was so intense that Prince Harry wrote about it in his 2023 memoir, "Spare." He claimed Meghan's outfit had been approved by the royal family's team as he voiced his disappointment that no one connected to the royals publicly defended her fashion choice. "A single declaration in defense of Meg would have been enough to make a tremendous difference," he wrote (via Page Six).

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie wore very elaborate Philip Treacy hats to the 2011 wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William, but the fashion risk didn't exactly pay off. The hats were so controversial that a Facebook group was set up to mock them, and Beatrice's hat was even likened online to a toilet seat. Yikes. In fact, we'd go as far as to say the hat choices were almost as talked about on the big day as the now Princess of Wales' wedding dress.

"They got hammered in the press and it was a little unfair," stylist Charlie Anderson later told People of the backlash, as pretty much anyone and everyone had an opinion on the unique accessories. The response was so brutal that HuffPost started a poll asking visitors to vote on if Beatrice's hat was the worst they'd ever seen. The sisters got the last laugh though, as Beatrice sold hers on ebay the month after the wedding and raised over $130,000 for UNICEF and Children in Crisis.

For her first royal engagement with the now King Charles at a charity event in London in 1981, Princess Diana wore a strapless black ballgown. The new royal was styled by David Emmanuel and his wife, Elizabeth Emanuel, with the latter telling British Vogue in 2020, "It was astounding. We witnessed the birth of a fashion icon before our very eyes." But not everyone was a fan of the bold look — especially Charles.

Princess Diana admitted in her 1992 documentary "Diana: Her True Story" that the dark ensemble was considered controversial by her royal partner. She even claimed Charles verbally scolded her for choosing a dark dress. "I thought it was okay, because girls my age wore this. I hadn't appreciated that I was now seen as a royal lady," she confessed (via Newsweek). "I remember walking into my husband-to-be's study, and he said, 'You're not going in that, are you?" After she made it clear she was, he retorted, "But it's black. Only people in mourning wear black." Diana being Diana though, she wore the gown anyway.

Meghan Markle followed in her late mother-in-law's footsteps by wearing a single-shoulder, all-black outfit (including a grown-up black manicure!) to the British Fashion Awards in 2018. Just like when Diana – a royal who also loved a chic nail color – wore all-black, Meghan, who was pregnant at the time, found her look heavily criticized.

At the time, etiquette expert Liz Brewer made it clear she didn't approve of the outfit or the dark polish on the British news show "5 News," saying, "If she was a film star, I absolutely applaud her. However, she is a new member of the royal family, and I think she has been warned or guided." She added, "[As a royal], you're supposed to look a little bit more demure." Plenty of X users agreed. "I totally agree with Liz Brewer. It doesn't matter how fabulous an outfit looks on the duchess, she needs to dress the part she voluntarily married into," one person wrote. "The British royals are prim and proper, starched even, for a reason," they added.

Kate Middleton found herself on the receiving end of backlash in 2011 after she wore a flowy yellow knee-length dress that wasn't properly weighted. Catherine, Princess of Wales, and William, Prince of Wales, were speaking to military personnel during a royal visit to Calgary when the skirt blew up and  exposed her thighs (and almost her underwear!) "Kate Middleton's bottom almost becomes as famous as sister Pippa's," Mirror even declared at the time. Not the regal headline she was hoping for.

Kate almost flashing the world was so contentious it inspired the dress's designer, Jenny Packham, to take a new approach to designing royal outfits. "I had a little handwritten letter from a lady in Wisconsin passionately criticizing me for the primrose yellow shift dress I made for the duchess," Packham admitted to Standard the year after the drama. The designer shared she didn't know what occasion Kate would wear the dress to, but noted, "I did think maybe in future I will put in more weighting, just in case."

The late Queen Elizabeth II had people talking in 2005 when she wore white to her son King Charles' and daughter-in-law Queen Camilla's wedding blessing. It's always a good idea to avoid wearing white on someone else's wedding day, even when neither of those getting married is wearing the color (Camilla wore an embellished silver ensemble for the blessing). The move was talked about so much that one Mirror headline declared: "The Queen made a big faux pas on Prince Charles' wedding day."

But there may have been more to Queen Elizabeth's choice. In April 2024, an @historyinmemes video went viral on X, suggesting the Queen wore white to support the late Princess Diana. The video, which, at the time of writing, has been viewed more than 24 million times, showed Camilla attending Charles and Diana's 1981 wedding in what appeared to be a white outfit. It was later revealed Camila actually wore light gray, though Zoe Burke, wedding expert and editor of Hitched.co.uk, admitted to Express it was a little too close to white to be appropriate. 

Although sheer clothing was a major trend in 2023, in 1980, it raised more than a few eyebrows; especially when worn by a royal. That's exactly what happened when Princess Diana was photographed outside of a kindergarten while wearing a thin skirt after news broke about her relationship with then-Prince Charles. The soon-to-be royal was caught off-guard, as the sunlight in the photos made the garment appear see-through, highlighting the outline of her legs.

"Although her skirt was modest, when the light hit it from behind, her legs were exposed. She was mortified ... It was hotly discussed," Elizabeth Holmes, author of "HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style," explained to New York Post of the controversy in 2020. Diana was reportedly so upset about the pictures Today reported she told King Charles at the time, "I don't want to be known as the girlfriend who had no petticoat."

Proving that even the youngest members of the royal family aren't immune to fashion controversy, in July 2024, Prince George's parents, William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, were called out for an outfit the youngster didn't actually wear. Social media users accused them of not allowing the then 10-year-old to wear a soccer shirt to watch England play Spain in Germany. Instead, George matched his dad in a similar suit and tie.

Journalist Bev Turner questioned the choice on "GB News," stating, "It's a bit strange, though, isn't it? Yeah. It is smart, but I don't know how they get these children into these clothes." Others questioned the decision on X. "Give Prince George an England shirt FFS. Stop wheeling him out in a business suit," one person wrote. Another shared, "I know he's the future king of England but would it really hurt to dress Prince George like an England fan rather than a mini-FA Chairman? Stick him an England shirt... he's a kid." 

A royal expert later revealed to Woman and Home that the reason the young prince wore the outfit was because he intentionally wanted to dress like his father. The outlet noted that it wasn't the first time he tried to emulate Prince William, pointing out that he did the same thing during a match between England and Germany at the 2020. 

Wearing fur has grown increasingly controversial over the years, so it's little surprise that any time a royal family member wears it that it gets people talking. That's exactly what happened in 2016 when Kate Middleton seemingly wore fur-lined gloves on a ski trip. E! News claimed they may have been made using possum fur, which didn't sit well with PETA U.K. "If the gloves are indeed made of real fur, we'll be contacting Kate, who we imagine is unaware that possums killed for their fur are often caught in bone-crushing steel-jaw traps," the company's director, Mimi Bekhechi, hit back in a statement. "Since so many humane, warm and fashionable fabrics are readily available, there's no need to wear fur ­ possum or otherwise." Middleton seemingly didn't speak publicly about the gloves, but did appear to take note of the controversy. In the years that followed, the royal reportedly stayed warm in faux fur gloves.

The royal family and lingerie aren't usually two words that appear in the same sentence, so it makes sense that when Princess Diana wore a silky, thin-strapped lingerie-inspired dress in 1996 to the Met Gala, it made national headlines. The dark navy number was designed by John Galliano, who told WSJ Magazine in 2018 that Diana took out the original corset insert it came with, making the whole look even more controversial. "It was a reflection of how she was already feeling at the time: liberated," Galiano noted. Vogue labelled the outfit "her most un-royal look to date," while Eloise Moran, author of "The Lady Di Look Book: What Diana Was Trying To Tell Us Through Her Clothes," lamented to Yahoo! News, "That was one of her most shocking dresses." We can only imagine the firestorm it would had created had social media been around back then.

Prince Harry made a serious misjudgment in 2005 when he attended a costume party. The then-working royal wore a Nazi uniform to party with his friends, complete with a swastika symbol on his arm. The outfit caused an uproar, particularly in the British press. The Sun published the photo on the front page alongside the headline, "Harry The Nazi." BBC News conducted a poll to find out what the British public thought, with a Londoner telling the news outlet, "He is seriously hurting the many people affected by the Nazi regime and, in addition, mocking us all with his arrogance, and playing down the sufferings of WW2." The Board of Deputies of British Jews also condemned the now Duke of Sussex, calling the costume "bad taste" (via BBC News).

Harry apologized for his outfit choice in a statement via Clarence House. "I am very sorry if I caused any offense or embarrassment to anyone," he said (via CNN). "It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize."