Weeks ago, the Daily Mail had a story about Prince William’s refusal to wear a kilt while he’s in Scotland. I ended up writing about it because it’s legitimately a mystery – why does William refuse to wear kilts when all of his male family members seem to rejoice in kilt-wearing? There was talk in the comments about whether it would be “cultural appropriation” and how the Windsors actually do have Scottish ancestry and all of that. I think William just doesn’t like kilts and no one can force him to wear one. I mean, the man has no pizzazz, no style, no charisma – arguably, even William knows that he doesn’t have the charm or style to pull off a kilt. Well, now King Charles’s Scottish tailor (Charles has a Scottish tailor!!) is saying that he’d be happy to make Peg a special kilt.
He has donned plumes of ostrich feathers, embraced bows and ribbons and even worn a cap with an embroidered leek. Such are the elaborate sartorial demands on the Prince of Wales, who away from royal and military ceremonials tends to be a blue-shirt-and-chinos man. So what has Prince William got against kilts?
It’s something royal observers are asking of a man who has inherited the Scottish titles of the Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince & Great Steward of Scotland. Not to mention he’s the heir to the throne of Scotland. Yet he has not been seen in public in Scotland in traditional Highland attire since he was a child, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by his father’s Scottish tailor John Sugden, owner of Campbell’s of Beauly and holder of a royal warrant.
“We would be delighted to make a kilt and jacket for the Prince of Wales. It would keep up a tradition and, especially being Lord of the Isles, it would be a perfect vehicle to popularise the traditional Highland dress – particularly to a younger generation,” he has said.
“It is curious that William has not worn the kilt as an adult, though he may have done so in private,” said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine. William is not often photographed in the Highlands. “Sightings of him in rural Scotland are rare. But wearing a kilt in an urban setting at least once would silence his critics. Others, of course, would see it as a PR stunt.”
[From The Guardian]
Kilt-wearing does seem like one of the most harmless of all of the royal traditions. It’s not just a work costume adopted by royal men for certain Scottish functions either – Charles loves nothing more than wearing a kilt, privately and publicly. Apparently Prince Philip was the same way. Is all of this talk part of some kind of public-pressure campaign? I think it might be. Charles is going to have to bribe William with the keys to a new house to get him to wear a kilt one time in Scotland.
(PS… Something which goes largely unsaid in all of the talk about royal men in Balmoral specifically is the fact that Prince Harry largely avoided Balmoral for much of his adult life, and William rarely stays there more than a few days. I’ve always thought that both brothers associate Balmoral with their mother’s death. I’m not saying that’s a factor with the kilt-wearing, but who knows.)
Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red.
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