Royal brides and their 'something blue': From Kate Middleton's secret detail to Zara Tindall's protocol-breaker

Royal brides' "something blue" aren't always noticeable but plenty of royal weddings have included sweet blue details.

Royal weddings are always iconic occasions with plenty of special moments, from the first sight of the dress to the spectacular floral arrangements. In recent years fans have been treated to multiple royal weddings as many of the late Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren have tied the knot. Each of these ceremonies was incredibly personal and it seems that several of the royal brides wanted to uphold the tradition of having something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. 

This saying can be traced back to an Old English rhyme from the Victorian era which has another detail - a sixpence in your shoe. Whilst it’s not surprising that the Princess of Wales probably didn’t stick to that one, she and other royals are understood to have incorporated "something blue" into their days. If you’ve ever been curious about royal brides’ "something blue", then here’s all you need to know about these largely unseen details.

The Princess of Wales

Everything from who Kate’s bridesmaids were to who designed her magnificent wedding dress has attracted interest from fans over the years, but her choice of "something blue" is just as intriguing. According to British Vogue, the now-Princess of Wales reportedly had a secret blue ribbon sewn into her Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen dress. 

This wasn’t something that we could have seen on the wedding day but if this was the case, then it was also a lovely tribute to her late mother-in-law Princess Diana who took a similar approach when it came to her something blue. Equally, Kate’s engagement ring with its iconic deep blue sapphire could also have counted as another "something blue" - and as it was once Princess Diana’s ring, this would also be a sweet nod to her.  

Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle’s wedding dress designed by Clare Waight Keller also had a hidden "something blue" and this was something that the Duchess of Sussex herself later confirmed. Speaking on the 2018 ITV documentary, Queen of the World, Meghan explained that they had sewn in a piece of blue fabric from a dress she’d worn on her first date with Prince Harry.

"Somewhere in here, there’s a piece of blue fabric that’s stitched inside - it was my something blue," Meghan shared. "It’s fabric from the dress I wore on our first date."

She didn’t specifically reveal where it was sewn in but later on in 2023, Clare Waight Keller claimed to Vanity Fair that it had been stitched into the hem of Meghan’s wedding dress, ensuring that she was the "only one" that knew it was there. 

She added that the dress the fabric had been taken from had a "little blue gingham check" design. Just like her sister-in-law, the choice to add blue material as her "something blue" could be seen as a tribute to Princess Diana and Meghan also went on to wear her late mother-in-law’s stunning aquamarine ring to her wedding reception.

Zara Tindall

Interestingly, Zara Tindall’s "something blue" is something that seems to have broken royal protocol - but in the best way! She tied the knot with Mike Tindall in Scotland just a few months after the Prince and Princess of Wales’s wedding and although fans didn’t get a glimpse of her feet underneath her Stewart Parvin wedding gown, she apparently had "bright electric blue" nail polish on her toes for her special day. The equestrian royal revealed this fun detail during an interview with The Times a month afterwards when she was still wearing the same colour.

"Yeeess," she said, apparently "wiggling her toes" in her brightly coloured Havaianas flip-flops. "I got married with them this colour. It was my ‘something blue’." 

Having electric blue toenails might not be many royal brides’ "something blue" of choice and it seemingly goes against a royal beauty protocol. During the late Queen Elizabeth’s reign she supposedly favoured pinky-nude shades of nail polish with a more natural finish. Although it wasn’t necessarily an official rule that had to be followed, her preferences are something that many other royal women tended to stick to as well. 

Zara’s choice to wear bright blue polish on her toes brought a playful and personal touch to her wedding day, whilst she opted for a soft pinky shade on her fingernails, having the best of both worlds.

Princess Eugenie

For her autumn wedding in 2018, Princess Eugenie’s "something blue" appears to have been the blue thistles in her bouquet. These bold blooms made an instant statement as soon as she arrived at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for the ceremony and a thistle was the biggest flower in Jack Brooksbank’s buttonhole for their wedding too. Surrounded by otherwise all-white flowers in Princess Eugenie’s bouquet, the blue thistles stood out all the more and were the only obviously blue detail in her wedding day look. 

Although it’s possible that she also had a more subtle or secret "something blue" included in her dress or another part of her outfit, the blue flowers seem the most likely candidate to fit in with this part of the rhyme. Thistles are also the national flower of Scotland, whose national flag is blue and white, and her choice could’ve been a lovely nod to her family’s Scottish heritage.

Princess Diana

Like both of her daughters-in-law, Princess Diana went down the blue fabric route when it came to her "something borrowed". She is said to have had a blue bow sewn inside the bodice of her Elizabeth and David Emmanuel dress which was her "something blue".

Her "something old" was the antique lace from Queen Mary that also featured on the gown and as another little good luck charm, Princess Diana apparently had a 18 carat gold, diamond-studded horseshoe trinket sewn into her dress too.

Did Queen Elizabeth have something blue at her wedding?

Unlike so many other royal brides, Queen Elizabeth isn’t believed to have had a "something blue" at her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947 and there was certainly nothing obviously blue in her outfit. However, whilst she might not have had a blue good luck charm incorporated into her wedding look, as per the BBC she did have a secret detail embroidered on to her coronation dress. The designer, Norman Hartnell, secretly added an extra four leaf clover on the skirt for good luck.

Queen Elizabeth also used to favour wearing shades of blue to the weddings of her nearest and dearest. This included Princess Margaret’s wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones, Princess Anne’s first wedding to Captain Mark Phillips, King Charles’s wedding to Princess Diana, Prince Andrew’s wedding to Sarah Ferguson and then the weddings of Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.