Is today the Queen’s Damascene moment? We only ask because today, as she opened parliament and laid out the government’s intention to deliver the eight bills necessary for Brexit, the Queen – long thought to be a Brexiteer – wore a hat that bore a strong resemblance to the European Union flag.
The hat itself was glorious. A shade of papal purple, with yellow flowers, she wore it with a matching day-coat and dress in a print not a world away from Balenciaga’s spring/summer 2017 inkjet floral print dress. Jolly, informal, was it a deeply coded outfit, or simply Instagram-friendly? Was she throwing shade at the Brexit negotiations or referencing Van Gogh’s Starry Night? Is this royal purple or Lanvin lilac? And so on. Given the Queen’s compulsory nonpartisan role in the Brexit negotiations, the hat remains riddled with ambiguity.
Elsewhere, in what was described as a pared-down ceremony (the first state opening with “reduced ceremonial elements” since 1974), the Queen may have signalled other visual protests: arriving in a car rather than a carriage; omitting the royal procession into the House of Lords chamber and, most notably, wearing a “day dress” rather than robes. The official reason was that the snap election meant there was a clash with other royal pageants, meaning there was not time for rehearsal. Last week, the Queen’s decision to wave aside concerns about security to meet locals after the Grenfell Tower fire – when Theresa May failed to do the same – made the PM look cowardly. Given May’s failure to secure a majority and the shambles of the past few weeks, this outfit could be interpreted as some serious shade.
The pomp and protocol surrounding the state opening of parliament is always ludicrous, but this year feels more at odds with what is happening in the real world than ever. As the government grips tightly to austerity, the Queen’s crown gripped tightly to a cushion as it was driven, as if sentient, to parliament in its own car.
It is the Queen’s job to remain politically impartial, to rise above the fray – she cannot vote. The Telegraph claims that the Queen was pro-Brexit, based on a rumour that she said Britain should “just get on with” leaving the EU at a private lunch before the referendum. But this is hearsay. The difficulty arises when it’s someone’s job to remain silent yet that person represents so much (tradition, continuity, power) that any little semaphore will be jumped on, regardless of its veracity.
We should remain measured on the topic. Today is arguably the biggest day in the Queen’s sartorial calendar – she will later go to Ascot, and wear something equally Snapchattable. As to whether today will be known as the day she sidestepped impartiality to make a silent protest with her hat, we’ll probably never know. But we can have fun with some memes.
