Queen's favourite handbag for over 50yrs must have certain elements or 'she won’t wear it'
THE QUEEN has carried the same designer handbag for years, however she has the bag customised for royal engagements.
Queen’s handbags discussed by Gok Wan on This Morning
Queen Elizabeth II, 96, always carries her Launer handbag on royal engagements. However, the monarch has a style trick where she has her Launer handbag adjusted slightly. Fashion consultant Gok Wan appeared on This Morning with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby today, live from Buckingham Palace to discuss the Queen’s fashion trick.
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As well as saying that the Queen works “exclusively with British designers”, the fashion designer also said she has “three different handbags that are all custom made.”
According to Gok, the “length of the strap is extended slightly so it doesn’t ruffle and crease”.
Also, the lining inside is adjusted so the bag is “not too heavy”.
In terms of what the Queen packs, she always carries in her handbag some “mints and a crossword”, according to Gok.
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The Queen reportedly owns over 200 bags from Launer, of which three seem to be her avowed favourites: the black leather Royale, the black patent Traviata, and a third custom handbag.
The Royal Family's history with Launer dates to the 1950s when the Queen Mother first purchased one.
She subsequently gifted one to her daughter, who's been a devotee ever since.
According to Launer's current CEO, Gerald Bodmer, Queen Elizabeth has even kept her mother's bags from the label.
You can shop the Queen's favourite bags from Launer on Selfridges here.
Before Queen Elizabeth awarded Launer a royal warrant in 1968, the monarch sometimes acquired the brand's accessories through Rayne (a shoe label with an existing royal warrant).
Since then, she's been ordering around five custom bags a year, according to Mr Bodmer.
Generally, the Queen will request a few modifications to one of the label's iconic, decades-old styles.
"She likes a slightly longer handle so it doesn’t get caught up in her clothes when she is greeting people," Mr Bodmer previously said.
"She’s not keen on shoulder straps, zips or partitions... We use a frame in the middle so she can reach deep inside, and she wants a strap that she can easily get her hand through to lift the lock and access the contents.
"But if the Queen doesn’t like what we’ve made her, she won’t wear it," he added.
"She definitely knows what she wants,” he told the Daily Mail.
The Queen’s three favourite Launer handbags
The Custom Bag
Perhaps because it was first acquired through Rayne, which had Launer produce purses to match its shoes, this style doesn't have a name—but it's clearly one of the Queen's all-time favourites.
She's worn it to meet two presidents, Nixon and Clinton, and this past year, it was even immortalised in one of her official portraits.
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The Royale
The aptly named Royale is one of Launer's enduring styles, and the Queen is known to like it best in a patent leather finish.
The Triviata
"The style she has been using most in recent years is the Traviata, a simple shape with short handles and the famous Launer silver twisted rope logo used as a clasp on the front," Bodmer told Hello Magazine.
The Traviata looks similar to the Royale, but features squared edges near its clasp.
Due in part to the Queen's influence, the Traviata is Launer's best-selling style.
