MEMBERS OF the royal family are known for setting many a sartorial trend. Whether it was the Princess of Wales Kate reinventing the modest wedding dress orMeghan championing the coat dress, the royal stamp of approval makes for an instant classic. But what about their tastes for the ephemeral — specifically, the personal scent?
You can’t see perfume or cologne, but it leaves an indelible mark on the memory. Not to mention it can elevate just about any outfit, moment, or mood. The right spritz can put a bounce in one’s step or make one feel utterly sophisticated — so there’s no better group of individuals to model one’s fragrance tastes after than the royal family.
What perfumes do the royals wear?
Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton
1
JO MALONE LONDON Orange Blossom Cologne 100ml
1
JO MALONE LONDON Orange Blossom Cologne 100ml
Myer
$229
For her wedding to Prince William, the now Princess of Wales, Catherine Middleton, is said to have worn a springtime scent of buttery florals — White Gardenia Petals, by niche British perfumer Illuminum. The scent promptly sold out everywhere and is now quite difficult to come across. That said, it’s not Kate’s only signature scent: She is also a fan of Jo Malone London’s Orange Blossom Cologne, a warm and bright floral scent that also featured at her wedding — albeit in candle form, scenting the air as she walked down the aisle — and which is far easier to come by.
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Former Princess of Wales, Diana
2
HOUBIGANT Quelques Fleurs L’Original EDP 100ml
2
HOUBIGANT Quelques Fleurs L’Original EDP 100ml
Price Rite Mart
$148.90 ($194)
For her wedding to Prince Charles, the late Princess of Wales picked a soft white floral scent — specifically, Houbigant’s Quelques Fleurs, a sumptous blend of tuberose, jasmine, lily of the valley and rose. It’s said that she was so nervous about her impending nuptials that she spilled the perfume all over herself before walking down the aisle.
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3
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS First EDP 100ml
3
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS First EDP 100ml
Perfumery
$89.23 (RRP$220)
In his memoir,Spare, Prince Harry also revealed his mother’s favourite scent: . In fact, the fragrance, with its notes of hyacinth, rose, jasmine, amber, and sandalwood, was so closely associated with his mother that years later, breathing in the scent during a therapy session brought memories of her flooding back.
“I read somewhere that smell is our oldest sense, and that fitted with what I experienced in that moment,” he wrote, “Images rising from what felt like the most primal part of my brain.”
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King Charles III
4
DIOR Eau Sauvage Parfum 100ml
4
DIOR Eau Sauvage Parfum 100ml
Myer
$186
Also in Spare, Prince Harry revealed that his father, now King Charles III, takes scent very seriously. “He was always sniffing things. Food, roses, our hair. He must’ve been a bloodhound in another life,” Harry wrote. “Maybe he took all those long sniffs because it was hard to smell anything over his personal scent. [Dior’s] Eau Sauvage. He’d slather the stuff on his cheeks, his neck, his shirt. Flowery, with a hint of something harsh, like pepper or gunpowder, it was made in Paris. Said so on the bottle. Which made me think of Mummy.”
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duch*ess of Sussex, Meghan Markle
5
JO MALONE Wild Bluebell Cologne 100ml
5
JO MALONE Wild Bluebell Cologne 100ml
Myer
$229
In 2016, Meghan Markle discussed her love of fragrances in an interview in which she cited Oribe Côte d’Azur Eau de Parfum, Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt, and Jo Malone Wild Bluebell as her favourites. The latter is described as “the delicate sweetness of dewy bluebells suffused with lily of the valley and eglantine, and a luscious twist of persimmon”.
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Queen Elizabeth II
6
FLORIS White Rose EDT 100ml
6
FLORIS White Rose EDT 100ml
Libertine Parfumerie
$190
Queen Elizabeth II‘s favourite perfumes were never confirmed, though it’s often been said that she enjoyed Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue, a spicy citrus scent with a powdery dry down which has since been discontinued. However, others have reported another of her favourite scents as White Rose by Floris, which is a rich and vibrant floral fragrance. She’s said to have worn it on her wedding day, making it a particularly special scent.
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Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly
7
CREED Fleurissimo EDP 75ml
7
CREED Fleurissimo EDP 75ml
Adore Beauty
$289
Grace Kelly famously wore a fragrance from Creed, a royal favourite since 1780, to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. Her husband-to-be had in factcommissioned Fleurissimoas a wedding day gift for his bride. The aristocratic spritz dries down to a bouquet of tuberose, violet, iris, and Bulgarian rose.
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Queen Marie Antoinette of France
8
LUBIN Black Jade EDP 100ml
8
LUBIN Black Jade EDP 100ml
Myer
$299
Lubin, a storied French fragrance house (and one of the nation’s oldest) uncovered a formula for the fragrance that they made for Queen Marie Antoinette prior to her death. So in 2011 they created a reincarnation with a mix of rose, jasmine, cinnamon, incense, and sandalwood, andnamed it Black Jade. If wealth were a smell, it would certainly be this.
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