Every item in a royal wardrobe has significance. Sure, most of the time we focus on the dresses, pants, or tops that they wear, but the royals' handbags are just as much a part of their ensembles as anything else. The perfect accessory can make an outfit and a bad bag can break it, but with style icons like Princess Diana, Kate Middleton, and Meghan Markle making the fashion decisions, there's rarely a misstep.
Because of royal protocol, most royal women bring clutches or small handbags with them to outings. These double as a great way to keep their hands occupied so they don't get caught fidgeting — or have to shake countless strangers' hands every time they go out. But sometimes protocol gets broken, and a big tote bag or a crossbody purse makes an appearance.
Here are 20 of the best handbag moments in royal history.
The Grace Kelly Hermès Purse
Princess Grace of Monaco was the original royal fashionista. She even got an Hermès purse named after her — the Kelly bag. It's like the second-in-command to the much-coveted Birkin and can retail — even used — for more than $11,000. Grace helped bring the bag to international attention when she was reportedly spotted using it to hide her baby bump.
The Queen's Staple Bag
Queen Elizabeth reportedly owns 200 black Launer purses, each with a price tag of about $2,000). That's a $400,000 bag collection! She uses the Launer almost everywhere she goes, and she's known for having secret purse codes that her staffers watch out for. Like if she's done eating, she'll place her purse on the table, and that's the staff's hint to wrap things up ASAP.
Switching Things Up
Although she's partial to her no-nonsense black bag, the Queen will occasionally change things up for formal events. She's been spotted a couple of times with a gold purse for a fancy outing. This bright bag seems to have been custom made to match the gold fabric on her gown. Having purses custom made to go with your outfits is definitely the height of luxury.
Diana's Useful Clutch
By the time paparazzi became a thing royals had to grapple with, Princess Diana developed the perfect handbag hack. She would carry a clutch with her to cover her chest when she got in and out of cars. That way, photographers couldn't snap photos down her dress. It's sad that she had to deal with that at all, but it's a genius trick.
Meghan's Rule-Breaking Bag
The Queen likes things a certain way, and supposedly she prefers that royal women carry clutches or handled bags — and she doesn't like the women in the family to use crossbody purses. Meghan broke that rule almost immediately. In fact, the Duchess of Sussex flouted protocol almost constantly, but she's not the only one.
Kate Also Wears Crossbody Bags
Maybe the Duchess of Cambridge thought this didn't count because she was at a polo match and not at an official event, but royal fans were quick to note that Kate has breached handbag protocol herself. Royal rules or not, it's a super cute bag just like Meghan's was. And it's much more convenient to have a purse around your shoulders when corralling kids all day. Carrying a clutch just wouldn't have been practical.
Cute Green Satchel
Meghan has tons of protocol-approved purses in her collection. We love this chic green bag that she wore to one of her first official engagements ahead of her wedding. It's a DeMellier London design that retails for about $400. It's still for sale in several colors if you want to match the duchess — and if you have a few hundred dollars to spare. LOL.
Camilla Has the Same One
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, owns the same green DeMellier London bag as Meghan. Camilla started wearing hers a lot in 2019 and 2020, so it's possible that she was inspired by Meghan's January 2018 outing to buy one for herself. She is pictured here carrying the chic purse to an engagement in February 2020, and it coordinates beautifully with her outfit.
Opposites Attract
It will shock no one to learn that Diana put this outfit together in 1986. It's such an '80s look, from the polka dots to the color scheme. We especially love how she flipped the colors for her purse. So while her dress is blue with pink polka dots, her clutch is pink with blue polka dots. Does it give us a little bit of a headache if we look too long? Yes. But it's so perfectly '80s Diana.
Princess Mary's Luxury Bag
According to The Daily Mail, Princess Mary of Denmark has a bit of a designer bag obsession. She reportedly has a collection worth more than $200,000, with at least 59 designer bags ranging from Prada to Chanel to the legendary and nearly impossible to get Hermès Birkin. She's spotted here with the Birkin in deep black crocodile.
Chic Chanel
Princess Mary isn't the only royal who likes a designer bag. Kate has quite a few high-end pieces in her own closet, like this chic quilted Chanel handbag. She brings this one out fairly often, but we like it best with this outfit. The color of the purse goes so well with the color of her sweater, and it's a perfect contrast to her olive pants.
Glam Gucci
Speaking of designer bags, Princess Beatrice has an impressive collection of her own. She brought this little Gucci crossbody purse out in 2018 for an art fundraiser. It's a classic Gucci design with the interlocking G logo, the red and blue stripe, and the bejeweled bee. She's also been spotted carrying a Louis Vuitton designer bag, among others.
Pretty in Purple
Kate Middleton loves a coordinating outfit. She often matches her accessories (bag, shoes, hat) to her outfit, as we can see here with her pastel purple handbag. She creates a whole monochrome moment in this way, and it's one of her signature styles. But it also isn't something she started.
Diana Was Known for Monochrome
In the 1990s, when monochrome looks were having a moment, Diana was right there to participate in the trend. She wore this glam purple gown with her matching heels and clutch to a museum gala in 1996. Perhaps it's a coincidence that she and Kate have similar matching sensibilities, but it's equally possible that the late princess helped inspire Kate's fashion sense. After all, Diana was a style icon around the world when Kate was growing up in England.
Matchy-Matchy
Once Meghan joined the royal family, she got in on the monochrome accessories game, too. We love this picture of the sisters-in-law going to church on Christmas with their individual color schemes. Kate went with everything red from her coatdress to her gloves, shoes, hat, and — of course — her clutch. Meanwhile, Meghan opted for a moody navy and black look that she paired with a matching Victoria Beckham purse.
Pop of Color
As much as the Duchess of Cambridge does like to coordinate her accessories, she's also not afraid to change things up. Her red suede clutch was such a great choice for this outfit, because it totally pops against the navy and cream. The bag gets its own little moment and it photographs so well. This is why Kate's a fashion icon in her own right.
Twinning
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie took matching bags to a different level in 2017. Their bags don't necessarily coordinate with their outfits, especially Beatrice's bright blue one, but they do match each other. Both sisters are carrying the same Louis Vuitton handbag at this event — just in different colors.
Star-Studded
This clutch that Meghan brought to the Queen's 92nd birthday party has to be one of our all-time favorites. It's a Naeem Khan design that's decorated with a sparkly constellation pattern. It's gorgeous, so it's no wonder it costs $1,490. Meghan paired it with her navy cape dress that kind of functions as the night sky to her starry purse.
A Mother's Tote Bag
Kate can't really carry much in her tiny clutches, so when she needs to provide entertainment for her kiddos, she brings out the big bags. She carried this white tote to one of Prince William's polo matches, and we just know it was filled with fun goodies for the kids. Sure enough, photos captured George and Charlotte playing with a slinky shortly after reaching into the purse.
Charlotte's Unicorn Purse
She may only be a child, but Princess Charlotte is already establishing herself as quite the fashionista. When she was 4 years old, she brought this adorable unicorn purse to a polo outing, and honestly we kind of want one now, too. The year's hottest accessory? Unicorn clutches. Get Kate a matching one ASAP.
