Despite various reports of the Queen's 'protocol' advising against it, royal women often embrace more modern hemlines – from adorable mini dresses to short skirts. In January, the Duchess of Cambridge stepped out in a bespoke tweed skirt suit that landed above the knee, and the Duchess of Sussex caused a sell-out with her gorgeous Reiss shift dress at an International Women's Day event in 2019.
While it's thought that the Queen's own fashion 'rules' once expected skirts to fall at the knee, as time moves on and royal wardrobes become more modern, expectations towards traditional protocol have become much more relaxed. As far back as the 1960s, Princess Anne was often pictured looking lovely in the decade's popular shorter styles, and Princess Diana was of course a fan of mini-skirts. Let's take a look back at some of our favourite outfits…
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The Duchess of Cambridge
Pretty in pink, Kate teamed her mini dress with a peach button-up coat from Tara Jarmon as she paid a special visit to Naomi House Children's Hospice in 2013.
Kate made a statement at the Epsom Derby Day back in 2011, which came just months after her April royal wedding. The Duchess' dress came from Reiss, while her tailored jacket was from Joseph – another of her favourite labels.
Duchess Kate donned this gorgeous yellow dress from designer Jenny Packham in 2011.
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The Duchess of Sussex
Meghan loves wearing tuxedo dresses, and even had this Maggie Marilyn dress altered to suit her personal style, making it sleeveless. She wore this outfit during her royal visit to New Zealand in October 2018.
We're obsessed with this ravishing red dress! Posing up a storm at ELLE's sixth annual Women in Television dinner, Meghan matched her bold red lip to her Dolce & Gabanna dress.
The former actress has favoured the silhouette since long before joining the royal family, and was pictured wearing this embroidered white mini dress back in May 2014. Gorgeous!
Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice wowed us in this leather mini skirt while on a night out in 2013! She also carried a quirky Perspex box clutch, which we'd love to see her use again today.
Princess Eugenie
It was lovely to see Princess Eugenie showing off her personal style as she attended a Commonwealth Youth Forum event back in 2018. We love her knee-high boots and high-necked floral dress.
Giving off Jackie O vibes, Princess Eugenie attended the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, wearing this bespoke dress by Gainsbourg. She paired her pastel blue dress with a hat by Fiona Graham and Valentino heels.
The Countess of Wessex
Wow – check out Countess Sophie looking gorgeous in this floral mini dress back in 1995, before her royal wedding to Prince Edward! Sophie (then Rhys-Jones) attended the Ascot Charity Race Day.
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Princess Diana
The Princess of Wales always looked gorgeous in a mini dress!
Lady Amelia Windsor
Lady Amelia Windsor rocked this red mini at The V&A Summer Party 2019 in partnership with Dior. Doesn’t she look glamorous!
Queen Letizia
Spain's Queen Letizia has a very modern wardrobe, and often wears shorter dresses for both official appearances and during her time off-duty. We love the chic mini dress she wore to the Luis Carandell Journalism Awards in October 2015.
And check out this gorgeous tiered number she wore to another awards ceremony in 2017!
Zara Tindall
Zara often wears an above-knee frock - she chose this chic LBD to celebrate her jewellery collection with Calleija back in 2015.