There are hundreds of articles on what royal women are wearing, but not enough on menswear! So here's my "Best & Worst Dressed Male Royals of 2024" to help balance it out!
With these ranked lists, I probably should work up to the leading man ... but we all know who is the best.
(1) Best: King Felipe VI of Spain
King Felipe VI of Spain is undoubtably the best dressed with some of the best tailoring of any public figure. Derek Guy, a menswear blogger, wrote a viral twitter thread describing Felipe's great style that was later picked up by the Daily Mail and The Times.
This year, King Felipe continued with his sartorial success by balancing classic daywear, tuxedos, with more laid-back travel clothes to the mountains and sports wear to the Olympics.
(2) Best: King Charles III of the United Kingdom
Charles is at his best when he's in Scotland. It's surprising that his son never wears a kilt. Just follow your dad, William! Charles belongs in his kilt talking to sheep and athletes in the Highlands.
I was disappointed that Charles forwent the traditional garters for his Coronation. I think that was vanity as men wearing garters today is often considered gender non-conforming. Overall, Charles is well-dressed and I really like his pattern pairings on his trip to France.
(3) Best: Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, Crown Prince of Jordan
Prince Hussein excels at situational dressing. If he's supposed to be in a suit, he's in a suit. If he's doing a casual pregnancy photoshoot, he's in the level of formality that matches his wife. It's so common in modern day pregnancy and wedding photos for the woman to be over-dressed and the man to be under-dressed, just look at Nashville country singers who wear a polo shirt while their partner is in a couture gown. It's refreshing to see a man who hits the note on situational dressing, no matter if he's with his wife or his father, or at a sports event.
(4) Most Improved: Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi is not a working royal, but he is part of the larger British family as the husband of Princess Beatrice. His style is very elevated and together they're a very posh couple.
In the past, Edo's worn sneakers to formal events but this year the casual shoes only made appearances at casual events. Success!!! I enjoy Edo and Bea's couple dressing and I hope we never see those sneakers outside of streetwear photos again.
(5) Worst: King Frederik X of Denmark
This was a big year for Denmark's royal family, as Queen Margrethe II announced her abdication in her New Year's Eve address in 2023 and Frederik, fresh off a cheating scandal, ascended to the Danish throne.
Frederik dresses too casually, often wearing tight pants and wrinkled shirts without a tie. At the UEFA EURO 2024 game between Denmark and England, Prince William attended in a suit and tie while King Frederick looked like he'd rolled out of bed in an unbuttoned, wrinkled shirt and blazer. Standing next to William, Fred looked like he was trying to hard to be cool and young. Royals in constitutional monarchies are political dignitaries and should dress like an ambassador, not like a Wall Street guy recovering from last night's party.
(6) Honorable Mention for Worst: Men During Nationaldag
I dislike that the Swedish royal women are expected to wear national dress while the men wear plain suits. It is patriarchal to have the men dress in modern formal clothes while the women dress in folkloric clothes. They should both wear the traditional clothing. In 2022 a non-binary traditional costume was designed for the Textile Museum Textilmuseet in Borås (wikipedia) so there's no reason to so severely gender segregate national clothing when the folk arts is for everyone.
There is a persistent rumor that King Gustaf is unhappy that his first-born child is his heir instead of the first-born son. The rumored sexism of King Gustaf gives a Handmaiden undertone to these photos.
Who did you think were the best and worst dressed royals this year?
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