The Royal Family turn up immaculately for the Queen's funeral

There was not a hair out of place, nor an unpolished shoe. Not a speck of fluff on a jacket was to be seen. For the grandest and most magnificent occasions, the dress code was resplendent solemnity, with pearls and pillbox hats, high heels and sharp tailoring.

For the Royal Family, it was, as the Archbishop of Canterbury noted, a portrait of pain in the brightest spotlight. The Queen Consort, Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex found some privacy under wide-brimmed hats, or veils, or both. And while Britain was watching the Royal Family, the rest of the world was watching Britain. spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-1sioudk">

The ruffled white collars of the clergy and the rich scarlet and gold military uniforms contrasted with the simplicity of the mourners dressed in black, a reminder that the death of the queen put not only the current Windsors but also the whole notion of Britishness in the spotlight.

It has been a busy 10 days for milliner Stephen Jones, who after the death of the Queen transformed his Lon central no longer sell black hats except in anticipation of funeral orders.

"Everyone wanted to be dressed appropriately, not fashionably," Jones said. "The hats were a symbol of Queen Elizabeth's reign, as she herself always wore them." The most popular styles have been understated black hats, in neutral textures.

The obscure rules that decreed that as an out-of-work royal prince, Harry could not not wear a military uniform, though he has seen more active service than most family members, are the kinds of things that make the monarchy look petty and absurd in the eyes of its critics.