The VERY strict dress code for a weekend with the Royal Family: PR guru Tanya Rose reveals the rules she followed at Sandringham after invite from Prince Edward
It might not come as a surprise to hear that visiting the Royal Family is no casual affair – but one individual who spent the weekend at Sandringham has revealed just how demanding the dress code really is.
Speaking on fashion designer Amanda Wakeley’s podcast Style DNA, Tanya Rose, founder of the travel PR agency Mason Rose, recalled her four-day 1979 visit to the royal residence at the invitation of her then-Gordonstoun School friend, Prince Edward.
‘I was 14, and Edward invited me to Sandringham just after Christmas,’ she said, adding that she was to be the only person during the stay who was not a member of the Royal Family.
The dress code included ‘Four long dresses, four outfits for breakfast, four outfits for tea, shooting things, Barbour, Wellington boots.
‘I didn’t grow up like that, I did not have that wardrobe, so we had to go out and buy everything.
‘My mother lent me the fake pearl necklace that she had bought at Fenwick; it was her pride and joy, and on the first night, I remember the Queen Mother saying to me: “Is that a family heirloom?'” and I said, “Well, my mummy did give it to me,” but I didn’t say it’s from Fenwick.’
Tanya remembered being ‘terrified’ to join the Royal Family but was delighted when the late Queen Elizabeth II put her nerves at bay.
‘That first night, it was terrifying because I was the only non-family member, and the men stayed, and the ladies went into another room, so it was the Queen, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and Lady Susan Hussey, who was the Queen’s lady-in-waiting.
Have you ever wondered what you’d wear to a royal residence? Tanya Rose has revealed exactly what you’d need (pictured: Queen Camilla, King Charles, Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte, Prince William and Prince George at Sandringham, 2024)
‘The Queen was so divine because she knew I was nervous. I was absolutely terrified, so she started doing impressions of her groom, and just being so sweet to me. She was lovely.’
But Tanya’s stay wasn’t completely free of blunders, and in one unfortunate moment during dinner, King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, caught her mistakenly adding salt into her coffee.
‘I had Prince Charles on one side, and the Duke of Edinburgh on the other,’ she explained.
‘Everyone had a pot of coffee in front of them, and I wanted some sugar, and we all had a little salt thing in front of us, and I thought it was sugar.
‘So I put two things in my cup, and Prince Charles said, “What an extraordinary thing to do,” and I said “Oh what,” and he said “You just put salt in your coffee.”‘
It comes after Amanda, Princess Diana’s former fashion designer, revealed how to dress for wedding season like a royal in a special episode of the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential.
Not only did host Rebecca English and Amanda agree that Princess Catherine had one of the best wedding dresses in living memory, but they also crowned the future Queen as the ‘epitome of wedding guest chic’.
Catherine turned heads earlier this year at the royal wedding of Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling, arriving in a cream tweed dress and matching wide-brimmed hat.
Tanya Rose (left) recalled the experience on Amanda Wakeley’s (right) podcast, Style DNA
This selection of a single ‘monotone’ colour scheme, Wakeley explained, is one of several easily copiable elements of Kate’s wedding guest style.
The designer said: ‘Kate has fit and flare. She usually wears quite long sleeves, with a rounded, high neck, and with a neat waist that shows off her beautiful figure.
‘I love the longer length clothes she’s embracing now; it creates such a beautiful silhouette.
‘She’s recently been doing all monotone colours, so her hat matches the dress, matches her shoes. Often her bag too, which I think is a tip she took from the late Queen’s book.
‘It creates such a timeless look. She always appears regal and very chic. She generally wears British fashion too, so she’s a global brand ambassador.’
