A nod to tradition, a dash of unexpected cool (and a pair of strangely mismatched earrings!) Yes,  Gen Z’s latest style icon is… 76-year-old Queen Camilla

My 18-year-old sister texted last week with a question I thought she’d never ask. 

‘Where can I buy a knitted vest similar to Queen Camilla’s???’ 

Eh?! 

Yep, it’s official. Queen Camilla is a Gen Z style icon.

Camilla wore a Khaki green sweater vest with a white Peter Pan collard poking out of  top. Casual, comfortable, but still smart and interesting

Queen Camilla leaving the London Clinic where husband King Charles III was treated for an enlarged prostate gland

Camilla’s Heinz Baked bean novelty clutch is an early example of the Queen’s fun-edge fashion

Said sweater vest was spotted on the Queen as she drove to visit the King at the London Clinic hospital last week. 

Khaki green, a white Peter Pan-collared shirt poked out of its top. Casual, comfortable, but still smart and interesting. 

It looked great on her at 76 and would look just as great on my quinquagenarian mother and teenage sister.

Therein lies the key to Camilla’s style: it’s always occasion-appropriate, but also  exhibits a dash of daring.

Look at the detail of her seemingly safe looks and you’ll find an unexpected element of cool. 

This is hardly surprising as her husband is, in my opinion and that of many others, possibly the most stylish man on the planet.

Royal protocol dictates a certain style of dressing (Camilla’s go-to coat dresses strike the perfect balance between tradition and modern elegance), but accessories are a realm in which she can indulge her individuality.

The way she uses them shows she knows about fashion. 

The Heinz tin of baked beans bag she carried in 2015 is an early example. It provided a contemporary, fun edge to an otherwise-classic Camilla ensemble of blue dress, white jacket and pearls.

Fashion-crowd favourite Demellier London is another of Camilla’s go-to bag brands (also loved by the Duchess of Sussex and Princess of Wales). 

Demellier’s quality rivals that of designer names, but at a much more accessible price point under £400 .

Camilla wears a stylish navy blazer and jean combination at the Braemar Literary Festival last year

The Queen arrives at  Wimbledon in a Fiona Clare dress and Bottega Veneta bag. There were no logos but the outfit shouted quiet luxury all the same

Queen Camilla stacks thin bracelets from Parisian jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels – and a Gen Z favourite – as if they were from Accessorize. In fact, they cost £4,000 each

Camilla wore their £355 midi Venice bag in October last year alongside slim-fit jeans and a blue blazer. 

How many other 76-year-olds carry off slim fit jeans?

Then there’s that Bottega Veneta bag she wore to Wimbledon last year. 

Paired with a white dress by favourite designer Fiona Clare, the look screamed quiet luxury. 

It was a rare move for Camilla to choose such an obviously designer piece (Bottega’s ‘intrecciato’ method of weaving makes their bags instantly recognisable – royal style fans were quick to find the bag online for £2,200).

But designer  or not, the bag did not drip with logos or hardware. It remained elegant enough for a Queen. 

Bottega has a cult following amongst 20-somethings – and the Millennials applauded.

Jewellery is another way in which Camilla shows that her approach to fashion is decidedly modern. It also suggests that she enjoys luxury fashion more than we might think given her wellies-and-jeans image. 

She stacks thin bracelets from Parisian jeweller (and yep, you guessed it) Van Cleef & Arpels like they’re from Accessorize. 

Only these come in nearer the £4,000 mark. 

Much like Bottega’s woven bags, the iconic Alhambra symbol (inspired by a four-leaf clover) is instantly recognisable – and a favourite of Gen Z, as it happens (which is to say those born between the mid-1990s and 2012 or 13)

But again, it’s about the hi-low combination, pairing an of-the-moment brand with classic clothing . 

Just enough of a dash of daring for Camilla to say ‘don’t underestimate me, I know fashion’.

There was another unexpected style triumph earlier this month when Camilla stepped out to visit a jeweller wearing mismatched earrings. 

I’m still undecided as to whether this was a purposeful move or an accident.

 (She must have someone check her look before she heads out so I find it hard to believe it was an accident).

Either way, she carried it off. The mismatched earrings added an element of playfulness to a classic camel coat by Anna Valentine that she has worn several times before.

There have  been a few times of late when Camilla has shown us what an underrated royal fashionista she really is, not just through accessories, but through some head-to-toe knockout looks. 

The Queen attends a state banquet in Nairobi, Kenya, last year wearing Van Cleef & Arpels earrings featuring three of the Magic Alhambra motifs 

Was that intentional? Camilla leaves an engagement in Swindon wearing odd earrings. Deliberate or not, it’s a favourite Gen Z trend

The Queen’s piece de resistance was this Dior gown in Paris – easily her best style moment to date

The Dior couture cape dress she wore to a state banquet in Paris in September last year was her best style moment ever, in my opinion. Dramatic, modern, but still classic.

There’s a place for Dubarry and a place for Dior. 

Camilla knows this and navigates both with ease, injecting seemingly classic looks with just enough modernity to keep them interesting.

Put it this way: there are few people who can carry off Bottega as well as they do Barbour. Camilla is one of them.