Mother-in-law/ daughter-in-law relationships can, stereotypically, be fraught enough without adding in the sometimes fractious possibility of sharing clothes. But when your mother-in-law is a royal with a lifetime’s worth of wardrobe treasures and you’re a Queen with a diary packed full of engagements to dress for, the prospect must be all the more appealing. 

How I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when Queen Sofia opened the doors of her fashion collection to her son’s wife, Queen Letizia. As Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014, Sofia dressed for dozens of tours and galas during her husband, King Carlos’, reign, shopping with the biggest designers of the day for her looks. 

Now that King Felipe is on the throne, the fashion spotlight has moved to Letizia, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s most stylish royals. But conscious, perhaps, of conversations about sustainability, the Queen is as likely to re-wear an old high street buy as she is to debut a new designer piece, or, increasingly, to delve into Sofia’s archive.