Privilège du blanc
The White Privilege, or Privilege du blanc, is a privilege held by female Catholic Monarchs, also by female Catholic Consorts of Monarchs, wherein they are allowed to wear white when in an audience with the Pope.
Formal Vatical protocol for papal audiences used to require long-sleeved, formal black garments and a black mantilla for women. However, since the 1980s, papal dress codes (men wearing white tie, women wearing black and covering their heads) have been optional, not obligatory, with many diplomatic guests and heads of state opting to wear suits rather than formal wear when attending the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Many women leaders no longer wear the traditional outfits when meeting popes; neither of Ireland's two women presidents — Mary Robinson nor Mary McAleese — wore the traditional outfits when meeting Pope John Paul II. Robinson wore dark green while McAleese wore black and white. Then Soviet Union First Lady Raisa Gorbachyova wore red.
Cherie Blair, wife of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, sparked controversy when she wore white to meet the Pope in 2006. [1]
Currently, should they choose to wear the traditional style of clothing, the White Privilege is held only by the Queens of Spain and Belgium, and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, all of whose monarchies were awarded the Catholic Monarch designation in the past.