Like so many Windsor traditions, the practice of wearing veils at royal funerals is often traced back to Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great-grandmother, who famously wore mourning attire for the rest of her life after her beloved husband, Prince Albert, died of typhoid at the age of 42. At the funeral of King George VI in 1952, the newly created Queen Elizabeth joined her mother and sister, Princess Margaret, in wearing heavy veils, while Queen Mary appeared in a waist-length veil to honour her late husband, King George V, in 1936.
While Victoria certainly helped to popularise the veil (and generally triggered a craze for dark fabrics), the association of veils with mourning dates from centuries before the Widow of Windsor’s reign. So-called widow’s weeds are a variation of monastic dress, including face coverings. Long worn by practising nuns, veils historically symbolised a mourner’s deep remove from everyday life, as well as her chastity and modesty (particularly important for young widows, who could be the subject of vicious gossip, and for whom the mourning period lasted for two years in the 19th century). For high-profile mourners – such as those present at a state funeral – veils also helped to mask tearfulness, which might have been considered inappropriate or humiliating. See Jackie Kennedy at JFK’s 1963 funeral, wearing a nearly opaque veil with her Givenchy suit.
In recent years, the Windsors have nodded to the veil tradition without covering their faces entirely – likely a reaction to the public’s increasing desire for royal visibility. Diana, Princess of Wales wore a birdcage design to a memorial service for Grace Kelly in 1982, setting the tone for future royal mourners – including the Duchess of Cambridge. The Duchess wore a Philip Treacy hat with a netted veil for Prince Philip’s funeral, before appearing in a headband with an attached veil for Her Majesty’s Procession service on 14 September. As for the Queen’s funeral proper at Westminster Abbey? Catherine selected another wide-brimmed hat, with a delicate veil covering her face without totally obscuring it.
