Queen Mathilde Wears Her Wedding Pearls—and Exercises the Privilege du Blanc—at the Vatican

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde arrived at the Vatican on Thursday morning for a private audience with Pope Francis.

The Vatican released this official photograph of the heads of state during their meeting.

We also glimpsed Philippe and Mathilde departing after their audience, escorted by the always-vibrant Swiss Guard.

Queen Mathilde, as the wife of a Catholic monarch, exercised her traditional right to wear white—the privilège du blanc—during her papal audience. The old rules for private audiences with the Pope required women to wear long black gowns and veils. Those rules have since been significantly relaxed, but several Catholic queens consort still wear white dresses and head coverings in a nod to the traditional dress code.

Here’s another look at the lovely white lace veil that Mathilde chose for today’s audience.

She also wore another important “white” accessory: her diamond ribbon and pearl drop earrings, which she wore for her royal wedding in December 1999. The earrings have been a staple of Mathilde’s jewelry collection ever since.

She also wore her wedding ring on her right hand and her diamond and blue gemstone ring on her left. With her watch, she layered one of her favorite gold bracelets, which has several religious medals attached as pendants.

It’s always fascinating to see what royal women wear when visiting the Vatican. There are just a handful of women who have traditionally been allowed to wear white: the Queens of Belgium and Spain and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, plus some members of the House of Savoy, which formerly reigned in Italy. In 2013, that list was expanded to include the Princess of Monaco as well. Above, Queen Paola of Belgium wears white to attend John Paul II’s beatification ceremony in May 2011.

Queen Sofia of Spain dresses very traditionally here, in April 2014, for John Paul II’s canonization ceremony, wearing a long white dress and a lace mantilla.

Queen Letizia dressed in a more modern ensemble, but still in white, for an audience with Pope Francis in June 2014, a few weeks after King Felipe’s accession. The rules for papal visit attire have relaxed considerably during Francis’s tenure as pontiff.

Here’s Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, wearing white during an audience with Pope Francis in March 2016.

And here’s Princess Charlene of Monaco wearing white as she leaves after a private audience with Pope Francis in January 2016.

Wearing white is an option for this group of women when visiting the Vatican, not a requirement. Princess Charlene has also worn black for a papal audience, pictured above in July 2022.

The princely family of Liechtenstein is Catholic, but the Princess of Liechtenstein has never worn white when meeting with the Pope. Note both the late Princess Marie-Aglae and Hereditary Princess Sophie wearing black for a papal audience in April 2017.

And though she’s Catholic herself, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is married to a Protestant monarch, so she wears black when visiting the Vatican.

Other spouses of Protestant monarchs have opted for black for papal visits as well. Here’s Queen Silvia of Sweden meeting with Pope Francis in April 2015.

The same is true for other royal ladies from Protestant families, like Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, who wore black to meet with Pope Francis in November 2018.

At the start of her reign, when papal audiences were still extremely formal affairs, Queen Elizabeth II wore black lace and diamonds to visit the Vatican. Above, she’s wearing Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik with pearls for an audience with Pope John XXIII in May 1961.

But by the end of her reign, the dress expectations for papal visits had shifted entirely. She wore purple, accessorized with the Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch, for a visit with Pope Francis in April 2014.

For a visit with Pope Benedict XVI in April 2009, Queen Camilla—then the Duchess of Cornwall—opted for black lace and pearls.

Several years later, Camilla wore an ensemble in shades of beige and tan for a visit with Pope Francis at the Vatican in April 2017.

Dress expectations have varied widely for royal women from other religious traditions over time, too. Here, Queen Sirikit of Thailand wears black lace with her bandeau tiara for an audience with Pope John XXIII in 1960.

In May 2016, Princess Kiko of Japan wore a kimono for an audience with Pope Francis.

Queen Rania of Jordan has worn variations on black ensembles over the years for papal audiences. In recent years she’s also incorporated touches of white in her outfits, like the head covering and dress embellishments worn for a meeting with Pope Francis in November 2022.