Queen Silvia of Sweden, Melania Trump and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway lead the way in mourning fashion with veils – Lafargue Raphael/ABACA/Shutterstock/Dan Kitwood/Getty Images/

The European royals are masters when it comes to dressing for formal ceremonies. But Melania Trump proved she could hold her own amongst them at the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican City’s St Peter’s Square on Saturday.

The US first lady wore a black double-breasted coat-dress, lace gloves and a black lace mantilla-style veil over her hair. Her predecessor, Dr Jill Biden, also adhered to the dress code flawlessly, donning a veil and sheer black tights.

Melania wears a black lace mantilla-style veil and double-breasted coat-dress – Marco Iacobucci/IPA/INSTARimages

Dr Jill Biden wearing a mantilla-style black veil alongside her husband, former US president Joe Biden – Isabella Bonotto/AFP via Getty Images

Among the royals in attendance were Queen Letizia of Spain, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Queen Mathilde of Belgium and Queen Silvia of Sweden – they all wore similar head coverings, but chose to eschew the requirement for gloves. If anyone has a sense of when to bend the rules, it would be them, so Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria was in good company. Her black circular hat with black netting made for a very British twist on head covering.

Queen Letizia of Spain wears a mantilla head covering, in line with tradition but without gloves – Filippo Monteforte /AFP via Getty Images

The dress code for a papal funeral dictates that women wear a long black dress – at least knee-length – black gloves and a headscarf, head covering or veil. Their jewellery should be limited to a string of pearls around the neck. Men are required to wear a dark suit with a white shirt, a long black tie and a black button on the left lapel of their jacket.

Victoria Starmer opts for a black hat with netting, a wrap-style dress and opaque tights – Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo

For the most part, this was followed by attendees. Many will already be familiar with State funeral protocol, and while the Vatican stipulates some specific details, standard formal funeral attire – modest, predominantly black – was considered acceptable, as were elements of national and ceremonial dress.

Brigitte Macron attends Pope Francis’s funeral without a head covering – Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The requirement for a head covering was considered optional by some, among them Brigitte Macron, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni. The latter three also opted for suits over dresses, a further sign of evolving traditions that mirror those of the royals – female guests at the late Queen’s funeral were also granted permission to wear suits.

Meloni wears a suit and no head covering – Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Many of the women wore tights, usually unnecessary on a 17 degrees celsius Italian spring morning. This is an element borrowed from royal mourning attire. When the late Queen Elizabeth died in 2022, we saw the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex wear sheer black tights for the duration of the mourning period, so it’s no surprise to see them on many of the dignitaries gathered in St Peter’s Square. Jewellery stipulations are also similar. British royals may only wear pearls and diamonds while in mourning, no coloured stones.

The Princess of Wales wore sheer black tights and pearls during the mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II – Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

It’s fair to say that the women’s dress code is more open to interpretation than the men’s, but there were deviations from the traditional requirements among them too. Many chose to wear navy suits instead of black, among them Prince William and Donald Trump, while Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wore charcoal grey. Nor were ties universally black, or shirts white. Sombre, muted colours were evidently respectful enough.

Donald Trump and Prince William both wear navy suits in place of black – Chris Warde-Jones/Roberto Silvino/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The exception was Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, who has maintained a wartime uniform of a T-shirt or sweatshirt featuring the Ukrainian trident since his country was invaded by Russia in 2022 – a symbol of his solidarity with soldiers on the front line. It can be likened to Winston Churchill’s “siren suit” worn for a visit to the White House during the Second World War. For the Pope’s funeral, Zelensky wore a funereal iteration of that: a black utility jacket over a dark shirt, black trousers and black trainers.

Zelensky wears a black utility jacket and trainers to Pope Francis’s funeral, echoing Churchill’s wartime ‘siren suit’ – Birmingham Post and Mail Archive/Mirrorpix via Getty Images/ James Veysey/Shutterstock

It is interesting that so many dignitaries chose not to follow the dress code to the letter. It is also interesting that seemingly nobody at the Vatican took issue with that. A smooth-running ceremony was surely the priority, but it is also proof that even an institution as steeped in tradition as the Catholic church can and must evolve with time.

For the global leaders and royalty among the mourners, the pared-back dress code requirements, however loosely followed, represented a levelling of the field. While the seating plan may have told a different story, the dress code at least removed all indicators of hierarchy, redirecting focus to the ceremony and the memory of the late Pope.

At a time when geopolitical tensions are high, the Pope’s funeral served as a moment of peace and unity – and world leaders’ adherence to the dress code was a visual reflection of that. It’s a message of which the late Pope would surely have approved.