Friend of Prince Edward’s reveals strict Sandringham dress code

Friend of Prince Edward’s reveals strict Sandringham dress code As a teenager, Tanya Rose was invited for a four-day trip to the royal’s Norfolk estate by her school friend Prince Edward, and has now shared the very strict dress code she had to adhere to Each year, the Royal Family spends several weeks at Sandringham over the Christmas period, with various family members and friends receiving invites to the festive family affair. And as one would expect when staying with the Royal Family, it is not a casual affair. A friend of Prince Edward’s has now shared the details of her visit to the Norfolk estate in 1979, when she was invited by her school friend to stay with the royals in the days after Christmas, and the very strict dress code she has to adhere to. Tanya Rose, founder of travel PR firm Mason Rose, shared her experience on Amanda Wakeley's Style DNA podcast, speaking candidly about her Gordonstoun School friend Prince Edward and the Sandringham invite when she was a teen. “I was 14, and Edward invited me to Sandringham just after Christmas,” she said on the podcast, adding that she was to be the only person during the stay who was not a member of the Royal Family. When quizzed about the dress code for her four-day stay, Tanya said: “I needed four long dresses, four outfits for breakfast, four outfits for tea, shooting things, Barbour, Wellington boots.” The PR mogul said that she did not have any appropriate items for the trip, so she and her parents had to go out and purchase new clothes for the trip. Tanya added that her mother had loaned her a pearl necklace that was bought from Fenwick’s, which she passed off as a family heirloom when asked about the jewellery by the Queen Mother. Tanya remembered being 'terrified' to join the Royal Family on the Norfolk estate, but was delighted when the late Queen Elizabeth put her nerves at bay. She told the podcast host: “That first night, it was terrifying because I was the only non-family member, and the men stayed, and the ladies went into another room, so it was the Queen, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and Lady Susan Hussey, who was the Queen's lady-in-waiting.” “The Queen was so divine because she knew I was nervous. I was absolutely terrified, so she started doing impressions of her groom, and just being so sweet to me. She was lovely.” Despite being put at ease by the late Queen, Tanya did have one embarrassing blunder while in the presence of the Firm, as she recalled one awkward moment during dinner that was noticed by King Charles, then the Prince of Wales. “I had Prince Charles on one side, and the Duke of Edinburgh on the other,” she explained. “Everyone had a pot of coffee in front of them, and I wanted some sugar, and we all had a little salt thing in front of us, and I thought it was sugar. “So I put two things in my cup, and Prince Charles said, ‘What an extraordinary thing to do,’ and I said ‘Oh what?’ and he said ‘You just put salt in your coffee!’”