Queen Elizabeth wears blue to Princess Diana and Prince Charles' wedding in July 1981.Photo:Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty
Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty
“Something blue” wasn’t a good sign if it came in the form ofQueen Elizabeth’s outfit at a royal wedding!
The history-making monarch, who died in September 2022 at age 96, was known for hercolorful wardrobe— it was adeliberate choiceshe made to ensure she could be easily spotted in a crowd. But blue seemed to be a favorite hue of the Queen when she was a guest at a close family member’s wedding…even though it turned out to be a bad omen.
Queen Elizabeth wore blue to several royal weddings that eventually ended in divorce, from her sister,Princess Margaret, to three of her children.
The coincidence started in 1960 when Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who became the Earl of Snowdon.
“The wedding marked a turning point in the protocol of royal dress as it was the last occasion on which members of the Royal Family wore full-length day dress for a family wedding,” the Royal Collection Trust stated. “Cecil Beaton, the official photographer of the wedding described his portrait of The Queen taken on this occasion: ‘The Queen was enormously appealing to me. Her dress was quite wonderfully romantic – with a skirt of stiff folds – and everything of a kingfisher brilliance.’ "
Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon had two children, but they divorced in 1978.
Queen Elizabeth wears blue at Princess Anne’s wedding in 1973.Anwar Hussein/Getty
Anwar Hussein/Getty
When the first of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s four children got married —Princess Anne, who tied the knot with Mark Phillips in November 1973 wearing the same wedding tiara as her mother — the monarch wore a royal blue ensemble.
Anne and Mark, who welcomed son Peter and daughter Zara during the marriage, officially divorced 19 years later.
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Princess Diana and Prince Charles at their 1981 wedding.Anwar Hussein/WireImage
The royal wedding of the century took place in July 1981 whenPrince Charles, then heir to the throne, marriedPrincess Diana. Again, Queen Elizabeth wore blue, opting for a seasonally appropriate shade of the color for the summer wedding. She accessorized with a coordinating hat as well as some of her signature pieces: a pearl necklace and gloves.
Charles and Diana — who welcomed two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry — had an infamously rocky marriage, separating in 1992. In 1995, Princess Diana sat down with host Martin Bashir for an interview in which she candidly discussed Charles’s infidelity, her own affairs and a feeling of isolation in the royal family. In her most-repeated quote, she said there were “three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” referencing her husband’s affair with Camilla.
A month later, the Queen wrote to Charles and Diana encouraging them to officially divorce. They finalized the divorce in 1996, just a year before Diana’s death.
Queen Elizabeth wears blue at Prince Andrew’s wedding in 1986.Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty
Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty
The blue curse continued in 1986 at the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson when Queen Elizabeth wore a periwinkle dress for her second son’s nuptials.
The pair divorced in 1996 but remained close friends and co-parents to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. In fact, Eugenie famously said, according toBBC, “They are the best divorced couple I know.”
Fergie, as the Duchess of York is affectionately known, told PEOPLE in a 2011 article that she and Prince Andrew get along so well that she asked her daughters, “Do you think Mummy and Papa should get back together again? And they say, ‘You’re great the way you are now; it’s fine.' "
Queen Elizabeth wears yellow at Prince William and Princess Kate’s wedding in 2011.Paul Cunningham/Corbis via Getty
Paul Cunningham/Corbis via Getty
In the years since, Queen Elizabeth has chosen other colors for royal weddings.
When her son Prince Edward married Sophie (now the Duchess of Edinburgh) in 1999, Queen Elizabeth opted for a purple ensemble. The couple are still together and parents to two children: Lady Louise and James, Earl of Wessex.
The Queen wore a yellow ensemble when Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011 — and her sunny outfit matched her demeanor on the big day.
Courtiers have told PEOPLE thatthe monarch was uncharacteristically overjoyedon the couple’s wedding day, content in the knowledge that the line of succession — so fraught in the years following the checkered marriages of three of her own children — was secure.
Queen Elizabeth wears green at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018.Alastair Grant - WPA Pool/Getty
Queen Elizabeth wears blue at Princess Eugenie’s wedding in 2018.DANNY LAWSON/AFP via Getty
DANNY LAWSON/AFP via Getty
However, Queen Elizabeth did wear blue to a few recent royal weddings: that of her granddaughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.
After tying the knot in Oct. 2018, Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, are still together — and the parents oftwo young sons!
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are also still together after marrying in a small ceremony in July 2020. They welcomed daughter Sienna the following year, and Beatrice is the stepmother to Edo’s son from a previous relationship.
source: people.com
