White privilege

The privilege of white ( French Privilège du blanc , pronounced Privilege du blanc ) is a privilege that applies to Catholic queens, as well as wives and widows of Catholic monarchs who have the right to dress in white at papal audiences . It is forbidden for others to wear white, since the dad himself wears this color.

Formally, the Vatican Protocol for women invited to a papal audience provides for black clothes with long sleeves and a black mantle . However, since the 80s of the XX century, the traditional norms of clothing etiquette for papal audiences ( tailcoats for men, black clothes and mantillas for women) are not mandatory; Thus, numerous diplomats and heads of state who attended the intronization of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 were dressed in costumes.

Nancy Reagan with her husband at an audience of John Paul II. The first lady covered her head with a black mantilla, according to the protocol

Women - heads of state also do not currently comply with the traditional protocol: both women presidents of Ireland did not wear traditional flowers at a meeting with John Paul II ( Mary Robinson was dressed in dark green and Mary McAleese in black and white). The first lady of the USSR, Raisa Gorbacheva, in a meeting with dad was dressed in red.

Sheri Blair , the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair , was dressed in white at a meeting with her father in 2006 , which caused controversy: for example, the article in the Daily Telegraph newspaper was even called “This is not the case for white clothes , Cherie ”( White outfit, wrong occasion, Cherie ).

Currently, the “white privilege” extends to the queens of Spain and Belgium , as well as the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg . Only these three existing monarchies were awarded the title Catholic Monarchs . In 2013, Princess Monaco received the right to appear at a papal audience “in accordance with the protocol for Catholic sovereigns” ^[1] .

In addition, princesses of the Savoy dynasty , which once ruled royal Italy , have the privilege of white.

Thus, according to data for January 2016 , if you want to follow the traditional protocol, seven women can take advantage of the “white privilege”:

• Queen Sofia , wife of the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos I ;
• Queen Leticia , wife of King Philip VI of Spain;
• Queen Matilda , wife of the King of Belgium Philip Philip I ;
• Queen Paola , wife of the former Belgian monarch Albert II ;
• Grand Duchess Maria Theresa , wife of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri ;
• Princess Charlene , wife of Prince of Monaco Albert II ;
• Marina, Princess of Naples , wife of Victor Emanuel of Savoy , Prince of Neapolitan, son of the last king of Italy, Umberto II .