Whenever other royal women are at the same event as Queen Camilla, they’re rarely in the same color as Camilla, and it often feels like the royal women are making a point to look frumpy. I’ve long suspected that all of this has been dictated by Camilla, especially in the Duchess of Edinburgh’s case. Last year, there were also rumors that Camilla thinks blue is her signature color, and that was a problem for the Princess of Wales, who probably owns hundreds of blue dresses, coats, sweaters and buttons. Well, looks like Camilla and her dresser really have been bossing Sophie and Kate around:

Dresser to the Queen, Jacqui Meakin has slowly released her grip on who can wear the colour blue at the same time as Queen Camilla – but it must be a very different shade, a source claims. The source tells Express.co.uk that the colour blue is particularly problematic for the senior royals’ dressers because it’s a favourite of both Queen Camilla, 76, who was once named the second-best-dressed royal, and Kate, the Princess of Wales, 42.

“The Queen is now able to choose her outfits before all the other women in the Royal Family,” the source said. “It’s part of the royal pecking order and that includes the clothes and colour. Her Majesty’s favourite colour is blue and so is Kate’s. Sophie is also quite fond of it. There was a time when Jacqui [Meakin] was a bit apprehensive to allow blue to be worn at the same time as the Queen, but she’s relaxed that now as long as the blues are very different shades. In the end, it all became a bit comical with all the ladies seeing the funny side.”

Meakin was put in charge of choosing outfits for the most senior woman in the Royal Family after taking over from the late Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly.

However, soon after taking up the role sources claimed she had quickly “ruffled a few feathers” at Buckingham Palace by being too strict over outfit colour choices – most notably the colour blue. A source said that Camilla’s long-time dresser was quite strict in enforcing the royal rule that Queen Camilla’s preferences come first.

That made Meakin the target of Palace sniggers but now everyone can see the funny side and it has become an “in-joke”.

This isn’t surprising. The only surprises are the rare moments when Kate is “allowed” to wear blue or look better or more pulled together than Camilla during a joint appearance. Since Cam became queen, it’s really felt like she’s been playing a lot of games with Kate and what Kate is allowed to wear, especially with the Royal Collection jewels. It was actually a pretty big deal that Kate wasn’t allowed to wear a tiara for the coronation and she had to wear that ridiculous glittery headpiece. It was also a big deal that Sophie was allowed to wear the Lotus Flower Tiara, a tiara only worn by Kate in recent years, at the state dinner a few weeks ago. More is happening behind the scenes than Camilla ordering Sophie and Kate to never wear blue at the same time.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.