thumb|[[Elena of Montenegro|Queen Elena of Italy and Crown Princess Marie-José wearing white garments in the presence of Pope Pius XII at the Quirinal Palace on 27 December 1939. ]]
The (; "the privilege of white") is a custom of the Catholic Church that permits certain designated female royalty to wear white clothing (traditionally a white dress and white veil) during an audience with the pope. It is an exception to the traditional requirement of women to wear black garments on formal occasions.
History
Protocol for papal audiences traditionally requires women to wear a black dress with sleeves and no cleavage, as well as a black mantilla or scarf for the head.
Certain designated Catholic queens and princesses have nonetheless traditionally been exempted from wearing black garments. Those permitted to wear white garments include the Queen of Spain, the Queen of the Belgians, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, the Princess of Monaco, and the princesses of the House of Savoy. The privilege is not used by the wives of all Catholic monarchs or by the Catholic wives of non-Catholic monarchs, such as Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who is the Catholic wife of the Protestant King Willem-Alexander. Even though they are Catholics, it is not accorded to the Queen of Lesotho, the Princess of Liechtenstein, the Afro-Bolivian Queen, nor the Māori Queen.
List of eligibility
thumb|[[Charlene, Princess of Monaco, exercising the privilege during a meeting with Pope Francis on an official state visit to the Vatican]]
As of 2025, the following living royal women are eligible for the privilege:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|-
!
!on the occasion of
|-
|align=left| Queen Sofía of Spain
|accession of husband to the Spanish throne (1975)
|-
|align=left| Queen Paola of Belgium
|accession of husband to the Belgian throne (1993)
|-
|align=left| Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg
|accession of husband to the Luxembourgish throne (2000)
|-
|align=left| The Princess of Monaco
|dispensation from Pope Benedict XVI to the House of Grimaldi (2013)
|-
|align=left| The Queen of the Belgians
|accession of husband to the Belgian throne (2013)
|-
|align=left| The Queen of Spain
|accession of husband to the Spanish throne (2014)
|-
|align=left| The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
|accession of husband to the Luxembourgish throne (2025)
|-
|}
In recent years
Marina, Princess of Naples, wife of the former Head of the House of Savoy, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, exercised the privilege on 18 May 2003 during a Catholic Mass marking the birthday of Pope John Paul II, of whom she had a private audience the day before.
For the first time in Monégasque history on 12 January 2013, Charlene, Princess of Monaco, used the privilege in an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy See Press Office later issued a press release declaring the following:
Charlene exercised the privilege once again on 18 January 2016 when visiting Pope Francis as part of an official state visit to the Vatican with her husband, Albert II, Prince of Monaco.
List of occasions used
Among the occasions when the has been exercised are:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!| Date
!| Catholic Royalty
!| Pontiff
!| Occasion
|-
| 2026 March 28
| Charlene, Princess of Monaco
| Leo XIV
| State visit to Monaco
|-
|2026 March 20
| Queen Letizia of Spain
|Leo XIV
|Private audience
|-
|2026 January 23
|Stéphanie, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
|Leo XIV
|Private audience
|-
|2025 October 27
|Queen Mathilde of Belgium
|Leo XIV
|Private audience
|-
|2025 May 18
|
|Leo XIV
|Inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV
|-
| 2024 September 27
| Queen Mathilde of Belgium
| Francis
| State visit to Belgium
|-
| 2023 September 15
| Queen Mathilde of Belgium
| Francis
| Private audience
|-
| 2018 October 14
| Queen Sofía of Spain
| Francis
| Canonization of Pope Paul VI
|-
| 2016 September 4
| Queen Sofía of Spain
| Francis
| Canonization of Saint Teresa of Calcutta
|-
| 2016 March 21
| Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
| Francis
| Private audience
|-
| 2016 January 18
| Charlene, Princess of Monaco
| Francis
| State visit to the Vatican
|-
| 2015 March 9
| Queen Mathilde of Belgium
| Francis
| Private audience
|-
| 2014 June 30
| Queen Letizia of Spain
| Francis
| State visit to the Vatican
|-
| 2014 April 27
|
| Francis
| Canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II
|-
| 2013 March 19
|
| Francis
| Inaugural Mass of Pope Francis
|-
| 2013 January 12
| Charlene, Princess of Monaco
| Benedict XVI
| Private audience
|-
| 2011 May 1
|
| Benedict XVI
| Beatification of Pope John Paul II
|-
| 2009 October 10
| Queen Paola of Belgium
| Benedict XVI
| Private audience
|-
| 2006 May 8
| Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
| Benedict XVI
| Private audience
|-
| 2005 April 24
|
| Benedict XVI
| Inaugural Mass of Pope Benedict XVI
|-
| 2004 October 3
| Queen Fabiola of Belgium
| John Paul II
| Beatification of Charles I of Austria
|-
| 2003 May 18
| Marina, Princess of Naples
| John Paul II
| Birthday of Pope John Paul II
|-
| 2003 March 23
|
| John Paul II
| Private audience
|-
| 1998 May 15
| Queen Paola of Belgium
| John Paul II
| Private audience
|-
| 1981 April 30
| Queen Sofía of Spain
| John Paul II
| Private audience
|-
| 1978 October 22
|
| John Paul II
| Inaugural Mass of Pope John Paul II
|-
| 1978 September 3
|
| John Paul I
| Inaugural Mass of Pope John Paul I
|-
| 1977 February 10
| Queen Sofía of Spain
| Paul VI
| Private audience
|-
| 1965 May 6
| Josephine Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
| Paul VI
| Private audience
|-
| 1961 June 9
| Fabiola, Queen of the Belgians
| John XXIII
| Private audience
|-
| 1939 December 28
|
| Pius XII
| Papal visit to the Quirinal Palace
|-
| 1939 January 23
| Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy
| Pius XI
| Private audience after wedding
|-
| 1935 March 4
| Emanuela de Borbón, Duchess of Anjou and Segovia
| Pius XI
| Private audience after wedding
|-
| 1930 January 8
| Marie-José, Princess of Piedmont
| Pius XI
| Private audience after wedding
|-
| 1929 December 28
| Princess Adelaide of Savoy
| Pius XI
| Private audience
|-
| 1929 December 7
|
| Pius XI
| Private audience
|-
| 1929 December 5
|
| Pius XI
| Private audience after signing of the Lateran Treaty
|-
| 1923 November 19
| Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain
| Pius XI
| Private audience
|-
|}
<!--==Wearing white absent the privilege==
Though few, there have been occasions since the privilège du blanc was regularized where women of rank have appeared for papal audiences in white despite the custom. Such breaches of protocol have attracted press attention and scrutiny, drawing complaints of that the wearer did lacked respect for the Pope and Vatican traditions. For instance, in 2006, Cherie Blair, a prominent British Catholic barrister and the wife of then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was criticised for wearing white garments when visiting Pope Benedict XVI on 28 April 2006. Blair was speaking at a Vatican conference on children and youth. The Pontiff, hearing she was at the Vatican, requested she meet with him, only giving her a few minutes' notice and forcing her to rush in her day clothes to accommodate the Pope's request; her day clothes happened to be white. Blair had previously worn black garments to meet with the Pontiff. By contrast, Mehriban Aliyeva, the spouse of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, seems to have given no reason for wearing white during a 2020 visit to the Vatican, even though she was neither royal nor Catholic.-->