Before 2023 was over, the Daily Mail published articles about the Duchess of Sussex and Princess of Wales’s clothing costs for the year. While it’s ridiculous that British publications are still trying to claim ownership of Meghan in any way, it brought up something weird – why didn’t anyone tally up the Queen Consort’s fashion costs for the year? Camilla wears a lot of bespoke pieces and she also repeats a lot of stuff she’s had in her closet for years, if not decades. Her first full year as queen featured a huge number of bespoke pieces for all of the big events – the coronation, the first state visits as queen, etc. Well, instead of getting a tally, we’re getting this stupid piece in the Telegraph: “How Camilla abandoned stiff grandeur for a modern regal style.” This was written by Lisa Armstrong, the Telegraph’s “head of fashion,” but you wouldn’t know that from how many times Armstrong randomly brought up the Sussexes for no good reason. Some highlights:

Camilla’s unspectacular rise to a 47% approval rate: Unspectacular is probably where the wiser members of The Firm should be aiming, given the volatility of public crushes. Take note, Harry and Meghan. Increments make for stronger foundations than emotional landslides.

No more Country Camilla: While there have been sightings of some rather good shirtwaisters – an ideal style for her, especially when they’re midi – including one worn with a shoulder robing trench, another good shape for Camilla. We’ve seen relatively little of country Camilla during the past year. Hardly surprisingly given the Coronation and the subsequent finessing of Charles’s and Camilla’s images as worthy successors to an impossibly hard act….In the subsequent months [following the coronation], the Queen has honed in on the silhouette Bruce Oldfield gave her that day in the Abbey: gently skimming, indenting rather than constricting the waist, with a scooped neckline that elongates her neck and gives ample framing to the magnificent collection of royal jewellery she clearly cherishes.

The importance of a drop waist: “The drop waist elongates her body so it photographs well from many angles,” explains personal stylist Annabel Hodin. “And while a drop waist can be hard to wear when the dress is short, if there’s plenty of length below the waist, it can be very flattering. This dress is undulating rather than attempting to go sharply in and out. The neckline is perfect for her, neither too high nor low. You see the jewellery and some pretty collarbone; there’s a simple shoulder line and flattering wrist-length sleeves. It’s a very modern, lively approach to gala dressing. She looks comfortable and at ease – and incidentally she has on very good support wear.”

The making of a red velvet dress: So considered are Camilla’s outfits these days that Fiona Clare, designer of the red dress, was charged with tracking down a silk velvet that exactly matched the rubies in the Burmese necklace and tiara that previously belonged to Elizabeth ll. It took weeks to find the right velvet – 100 per cent silk velvet is almost impossible to source now, but Clare sourced a British velvet, made from silk and viscose, which is derived from wood pulp, so it was 100 per cent natural fibres. As velvets go, “it’s a nightmare to sew,” Clare tells me, “but worth it for the lustre and the way it drapes.

Camilla is happy for Kate to be a fashion plate: That Camilla clearly isn’t a limelight-hogger is endearing. She’s delighted for Kate to be the fashion mascot. She wants to be comfortable – and that’s evident not only in the flowing lines of her clothes and the mainly soft colours (ivory is her best pale shade, more compatible with her hair than cream, says Hodin) but in the people she works with – long-time friends such as Anna Valentine, who designed her wedding dress to the then-Prince Charles in 2005 and Clare, who has been working with her for 10 years. Make-up artist Maria Sandoval, who has done a superb glow-up job of subtly supercharging the Queen’s complexion and eyes, started out as a manicurist and has now worked with Camilla for 15 years – typical of the non-starry, non-bitchy types who make up Camilla’s glam squad.

Camilla’s victories: The extent to which she’s succeeding can be seen in the obvious – those state banquets – and the more oblique victories. Harry’s whinging in Spare, about his step-mother’s co-option of his old room at Clarence House into extra wardrobe space, for instance, doesn’t appear to have ruffled a single hair on Camilla’s serene head. (Dear Harry, what’s a woman to do when she needs more hanging room and her step-son’s moved on?) Meanwhile, Omid Scobie’s ramblings have become an international joke and even The Crown’s controversial sanctification of Diana has done nothing to stymy Camilla’s keep-calm-and-dazzle-on approach. Not when the same drama also makes That Woman, despite everything, seem rather likeable and ultimately quite self-sacrificing. One who, these days, dresses like a Queen.

[From The Telegraph]

Harry could have said a lot more about Camilla but he held his tongue, and it feels like Camilla was bothered by Spare after all, just as she was bothered by The Crown and the fact that everyone keeps talking about Diana. As for Camilla’s fashion… I’ve said before that I actually like a lot of what she wears, especially her housedresses. She’s not a fashion plate, but she has a good team of seasoned professionals working with her and you can tell. I’d just like to know how much all of this costs – a red velvet gown made especially to “match” a ruby suite? All of those custom pieces? A glam squad? Why didn’t anyone even attempt to tally up the cost of dehorsifying Camilla?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.