Prince Charles – the men's style icon we didn't know we needed in 2020
This column’s favourite royal family saga is back on TV. No, not The Royals with Liz Hurley, much as there is, surely, to admire there. No, nor The Windsors with Harry Enfield, chucklesome as that may be.
We (I’m employing the royal “we”) mean The Crown, a show that has many epic qualities but most excitingly, for men’s style snobs, offers the opportunity to ogle the most impeccable men’s formal wardrobe ever assembled, or at least the Netflix costume department’s recreation of it.
The fanciest of fancy duds belong, of course, to Prince Charles, played by the superb Josh O’Connor. (Much will doubtless be made of his co-star Emma Corrin’s outfits as Princess Diana, but us menswear honchos pity such fripperies; we know that, of that unhappy couple, Charles is the true style icon.)
I interviewed O’Connor for Esquire in the summer, and, unaccountably (I blame the editor), one of the bits that didn’t make the final cut was our chat about the amazing clothes the actor wears. The Prince of Wales has long been recognized as the greatest living exemplar of what the French call le style Anglais: traditional, conservative tailoring, with a rakish twist.
Unlike O’Connor, I have (briefly) met Prince Charles. This was at a party in the garden of St James’s Palace. I was introduced by his stepson, Tom Parker Bowles. Ghastly arriviste that I am I was dressed, as they say, to the nines. Tom was in his usual uniform of casual dishevelment.
“Look at your shoes!” said Tom’s stepdad. We looked at Tom’s shoes. They appeared to have been run over by a Land-Rover. I looked at my own shoes. They were neurotically shiny and — even more infra dig — brand new. The royal brogues had the deep, rich patina of centuries-old mahogany. I marveled at them.
“These shoes must be older than you are,” said the Prince. We established that in fact they were, by a couple of years. They’d be closing in on 50 by now, a compelling advertisement for the craftsmanship of the cobblers of Northampton. Charles is our most prominent champion of the best type of sustainable fashion: buy the best you can possibly afford, wear it until it falls apart, repair it, wear it again.
As The Crown arrives in the 1980s, we see Charles find his trademark look. The day I met him he was wearing a dove grey double-breasted suit from Anderson & Sheppard, pale blue business shirt, almost certainly Turnbull & Asser, tightly knotted tie.
He might not be our most cutting-edge icon of cool, but even the most ardent republican would be hard pressed to pretend that HRH does not cut a dash. Whatever he wears, he looks like himself. And as Josh O’Connor proves, if someone else wears it correctly, they can look like him, too.
That’s style.
Alex Bilmes is editor in chief of Esquire.
Shopping
by Hikmat Mohammed
Slim Fit Light Blue End-on-End Button Cuff Shirt, £39.95, T.M. Lewin
Merino Wool and Cashmere-Blend Coat, £1,095, The Modern Artisan (mrporter.com)
Loafers, £280, Grenson
Slim trousers, £155, The Gigi (matchesfashion.com)
Gold signet ring, £89, Missoma
