RIYADH: The office of Queen Rania of Jordan offered an explanation on Thursday of her clothing costs to pre-empt inaccurate reports published by some fashion-related bloggers at the beginning of the year about the cost of royal wardrobes.
The Queen's office issued a statement confirming that most of her clothes were either "offered as gifts by fashion houses or borrowed, or purchased at reduced special prices."
Defending how Queen Rania, known for her exquisite style, sometimes uses the borrowing system, the office said: “Some may deplore the principle of ‘borrowing clothes,’ but it is a universally accepted practice among fashion houses as a way to highlight their designs.”
Most of Queen Rania's clothes were either "offered as gifts by fashion houses or borrowed, or purchased at reduced special prices." (AFP)
The office continued: “Some may deplore the fact that a person of Her Majesty's status accepts the principle of ‘borrowing,’ but we do not advertise or promote fashion on any of Her Majesty's pages on social networking platforms, unless the designs are Jordanian.”
The office added: “Last year, the ‘UFO No More’ estimates of Her Majesty's spending on clothing were circulated. In view of their assessments that is far from reality and truth, we have asked their sponsors not to include Her Majesty in the annual reports of their blog.”
The blog Unidentified Fashion Objects "UFO No More" reported in early 2018 that the cost of Queen Rania's clothes amounted to more than €267,000 in 2017, based on estimates of what she wore. She was ranked first among 11 female royals, ahead of the UK’s Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William.
Queen Rania with the king and crown prince. (Twitter)
The UFO No More blog appears to have taken the clarification into account as it did not publish her estimate in its just-released 2018 report. “After discussions with the Royal Hashemite Court and the Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania, we have taken Her Majesty out of our tally and off of our website,” it said. “As a result of our discussions with members of the Court, we determined it was best for Her Majesty and UFONoMore.com to remove her from our tally and website.”
In its annual report for 2017, the Code stated that the average price of an item in Queen Rania’s wardrobe was more than €1,700 for a total of 191 new pieces during the year.
But Queen Rania's office pointed out in its statement that these blogs rely solely on market value for clothing, creating a “false impression of reality.”
