They rarely put a foot wrong – but can you spot the regal FAUX PAS made by these stylish royal women?

The Duchess of Sussex cut a stylish figure even when pregnant with baby Archie

Appearing at the 2018 British Fashion Awards, Meghan glowed in asymmetrical Givenchy as she presented a prize to Clare Waight Keller, the designer who had done her wedding dress earlier that year. 

It was an elegant, clean-cut display, as ever. Yet there was one aspect of the outfit that raised an eyebrow or two.

For the hands simultaneously showing off her marriage sparklers and baby bump were adorned not with the clear or neutral tones of nail varnish normally expected of women in the British Royal Family, but a vibrant shade of red-black, possibly Rouge Noir from Chanel. 

Not that the Duchess is the only royal to have broken protocol in this particular way, as these pictures demonstrate. 

Meghan Markle cut an elegant figure for the 2018 British Fashion Awards. But her fingernails caused a minor stir

At first glance, there is nothing amiss as coordinated Kate and Louis arrive for the Easter Morning service at St George’s, Windsor

But a closer look reveals that the Princess of Wales is wearing rich red nail polish

Catherine, Princess of Wales added an unusual splash of colour as she attended the Easter Morning service in Windsor this year.

The mother-of-three had her nails painted dark red in contrast with the neutral or clear shades she typically wears for public appearances.

Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, 58, has been spotted in berry-coloured nail varnish from time to time, as well as red and pinks.

Princess Diana kept to the neutral rule until her marriage to Charles unravelled. 

As a single woman, she reverted to brighter shades of nail varnish.

Referring to the night Diana wore her black ‘revenge dress’ ( Prince Charles’s admission of adultery had been broadcast that same evening) the designer Christina  Stambolian wrote: ‘She was clearly angry […] She wore bright red nail enamel, which we had never seen her do before. She was saying: ‘Let’s be wicked tonight.’

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, attends a service to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS at Westminster Abbey in July, wearing bright pink nail polish

Diana began wearing brighter shades of nail varnish once she found herself single again,  as seen here in New York in 1995

Queen Elizabeth, meanwhile, had favoured a pale pink ‘Ballet Slippers’ colour by Essie. 

The shade ended to complement many of her colourful outfits.

In 1989, Queen Elizabeth’s hairdresser sent Essie a letter requesting a bottle of ballet slippers, calling it ‘the only colour Her Majesty would wear.’