Editing Windsor uniform

{{about|a type of formal dress worn at Windsor Castle|the uniform called in Canada 'Windsor uniform'|Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{one source|date=August 2013}}
{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | total_width = 320

 | image1 = Peter Edward Stroehling - Portrait of King George III (1807).jpg
 | alt1 = George III in Windsor dress
 | caption1 = [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]] wearing the Windsor uniform in 1807

 | image2 = Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex by Guy Head.jpg
 | alt2 = Prince Frederick Augustus in undress Windsor dress
 | caption2 = Undress Windsor uniform, as worn by [[Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex|Prince Augustus Frederick]] (a son of King George III) in 1798
}}

The '''Windsor uniform''' is a type of [[Formal wear|formal dress]] worn at [[Windsor Castle]] by male members of the [[British royal family]] (and some very senior [[courtier]]s).<ref name=Dress>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/dressinsigniawor00greauoft#page/5/mode/1up |title=Windsor uniform |work=Dress and insignia worn at His Majesty's court (London: 1921) |access-date=2017-11-25}}</ref>

In Canada, [[Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom|UK civil uniform]] (as traditionally worn by [[Lieutenant governor (Canada)|lieutenant governors]] on formal occasions) is widely referred to as Windsor Court Dress or Windsor Uniform; although distinct in design and usage from the above, it is believed to be derived from it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pike |first1=Corinna A. W. |last2=McCreery |first2=Christopher |title=Canadian Symbols of Authority: Maces, Chains, and Rods of Office |date=2011 |publisher=Dundurn |location=Toronto |page=246}}</ref>

==History==
The uniform was introduced by [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]] in 1777.<ref>Jeremy Black, ''George III: America's Last King'' (New Haven: Princeton University Press, 2006), 118 and 428.</ref> The full dress version, which had a good deal of gold braid about it, did not survive beyond 1936, but the undress version, introduced in 1798,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=London Friday May 18  |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000230/17980519/014/0003 |newspaper=Hampshire Chronicle | location=England |date=19 May 1798 |access-date=28 January 2020 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref> is still worn today: a dark blue [[jacket]] with red [[Facing colour|facings]]. It is now worn only at Windsor Castle, and since the reign of [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|King Edward VII]], it has generally been worn only as evening dress (although [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|King Charles III]] has worn a version of it as a [[Equestrianism|riding]] coat).

[[File:The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil with Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh before the State Banquet hosted by The Queen Elizabeth-II at Windsor Castle, in London on October 27, 2009.jpg|thumb|The Duke of Edinburgh (far right) wearing the modern version at a state dinner in 2009]]
The uniform currently takes the form of an evening [[tail coat]] of dark blue cloth, lapelled, with scarlet collar and cuffs.<ref name=Dress/> There are three buttons on each front, two at the back of the waist, two at the end of each tail, and also two on each cuff (plus one above). The gilt buttons bear a design of a [[Order of the Garter|Garter star]] within a garter, surmounted by the imperial crown.

It is worn with a white single-breasted waistcoat with three small gilt buttons of the same pattern, and with plain black evening-dress trousers.<ref name=Dress/> When the court is in mourning, a black waistcoat and black armband are worn. As well as the tail coat version, the late [[Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]] also wore (and [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|King Charles III]] continues to wear) a [[dinner jacket]] version of the coat.

==See also==
* [[Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Windsor uniform}}
* [https://archive.org/stream/dressinsigniawor00greauoft#page/5/mode/1up Windsor uniform] – ''Dress and insignia worn at His Majesty's court (1921)''

{{Folk costumes}}

[[Category:1779 introductions]]
[[Category:British uniforms]]
[[Category:State ritual and ceremonies]]
[[Category:Windsor Castle]]


{{clothing-stub}}