Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle will wear veils at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral | Queen Elizabeth II passed away

Wearing a veil is protocol during royal funerals. In 1952, the Queen and the Queen Mother (the mother of the late Queen Elizabeth, ed.) already wore a long, black veil to the funeral of King George VI. Last year Kate Middleton wore a slightly more subtle piece to the funeral of Prince Philip, the husband of the British monarch.

The veil was made very popular by Queen Victoria. When her beloved husband, Prince Albert, died of typhus in 1861, she dressed in black for the rest of her life (a whopping 40 years) and wore a permanent veil.

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Also next Monday, during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth herself, female members of the British royal family are expected to wear some kind of veil. Their way of perpetuating an age-old tradition. For example, after the death of her husband Prince Albert, Queen Victoria even wore a veil for the rest of her life. “The tradition started centuries ago,” said historian Jessica Storoschuk in an interview with the American ‘Page Six’. “It was considered a kind of armor with which they could shield their grief from the public.”

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Storoschuk, who also works as a journalist for ‘Royal Central’, did confirm that “the length and style of the veil” has changed significantly over the years. Female members of the British royal family are increasingly opting for a variant that is slightly shorter and made of more transparent material. Although Queen Elizabeth herself did not wear a veil during the funeral of her husband Prince Philip, it is expected that the accessory will appear at several British female royals next Monday.

Follow all developments in our live blog.

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