Outrageous outfits celebrities wore to meet Queen Elizabeth: Lady Gaga’s latex, Spice Girls’ platform sneakers, Jennifer Lopez’s cut-outs and other daring looks that shocked the British royals

Oct 25 , 2021

Katy Perry and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell both got Prince Charles’ attention, while Lady Gaga may have been out to startle Queen Elizabeth. Photo: Getty, AFP

J Lo sported daring cut-outs to meet Prince William and Kate, while Emma Watson wore a garment of recycled wedding dresses, and Gaga went all Halloween costume to meet the queen

Prince Charles appeared to enjoy his colourful backstage meets with 90s girl group Spice Girls, and Katy Perry sure turned heads with a plunging neckline

The British royals might be globally famous, but they inhabit a rather different plateau to regular celebrities – a rigid world of often bizarre protocols and tightly stage-managed public appearances.

But of course some of these responsibilities include meeting and greeting regular A-listers – the kind that have earned their fame through exceeding in arts, entertainment and sport, rather than being born into it. And such encounters are inevitably often a culture clash at best, and a train wreck at worse.

Here we salute some of the celebrities who were called out – for better or worse – after donning especially “daring” attire to meet members of the royal family.

In 1997, Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls posed next to Prince Charles while wearing platform trainers (gasp!)

She paired the bold footwear with sparkling blue shorts and a white tank top that had blue sequins and a V-shaped neckline. She wore the ensemble to a Royal Gala held to celebrate the 21st anniversary of The Prince’s Trust.

Britain’s Prince of Wales with the pop group Spice Girls at the Royal Gala celebrating the Prince’s Trust 21st Anniversary in Manchester, in May 9, 1997. Photo: AP Photo

Prince Charles, on the other hand, donned a traditional black suit.

Halliwell and the rest of her bandmates then wore equally daring outfits while taking a photo with Prince Harry

Britain’s Prince Charles and Prince Harry meet Spice Girls – Geri, Mel B, Emma, Victoria (holding the Prince’s hand) and Mel C – backstage during the Two Nations concert in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo: Reuters

Ready to appear on stage, the band wore their typical, drastically different outfits that represented their individual styles. Halliwell chose a red skirt, white crop top and red platform heels, while Mel B wore grey velvet pants, a matching bralette and white trainers.