A quartet of royal women wore white in the presence of Pope Leo XIV

As Europe’s royals gathered in St. Peter’s Square for Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass, several royal women were spotted in white amidst a sea of dignitaries dressed in black.

This is known as the privilège du blanc—the privilege of the white, in English—in which a Catholic queen or princess is permitted to wear white in the presence of the Pope. Tradition dictates otherwise that non-Catholic royal women must wear black in the Pope’s presence.

Catholic royals are permitted to wear white dresses with long sleeves and a high neck and a white mantilla on their head. All other royal women are asked to wear the same, but in black.

There have been exceptions, most notably Queen Elizabeth II wearing a lavender dress to meet Pope Francis, and although the Vatican now views the black dress code as more of a guideline than a requirement, royal women still traditionally follow the rules.

On the morning of May 18 2025, at the inauguration Mass, Queen Mathilde, Queen Letizia, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Princess Charlene wore white. Crown Princess Victoria, who is Lutheran through the Church of Sweden, arrived in black. Queen Máxima, although a practicing Catholic, is married into a family of Protestant royals and has raised her daughters in that religion. She is therefore not accorded the privilège du blanc.

In total, there are currently seven royal women permitted to partake in the privilège du blanc: Queen Sofía and Queen Letizia of Spain; Queen Mathilde and Queen Paola of Belgium; Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg; Princess Charlene of Monaco; and Princess Marina of Savoy.

While most of these royal women have exercised the privilège du blanc as part of a longstanding tradition in their countries, Princess Charlene was only permitted to partake in 2013 following a meeting with the late Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican later released a statement saying that Princess Charlene, as the wife of a Catholic ruler, was allowed to partake. Princess Grace, her predecessor, had not been accorded the privilege on her meeting with Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, and Pope John Paul II.

For Spanish queens, they also have the option to wear their mantilla with a peineta, a hair ornament with a comb that goes underneath the lace. Queen Letizia has worn a mantilla and peineta only once, in 2004, to meet Pope John Paul II, and has never worn it again. Queen Sofía, meanwhile, wore it at many events in the presence of popes.

The privilège du blanc is symbolic of the purity and innocence of Catholic rulers, considered a gift from the Vatican to Catholic rulers who have remained faithful throughout the centuries.