# Kilt/underwear "rule" suspended while there is a Queen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139 "2010-02-23T16:49:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/1 "2010-02-23T16:49:12Z")
I heard somewhere (and cannot remember where) that the notorious “rule” about what you are allowed to wear under the kilt is suspended while the Scottish throne is occupied by a lady. I would like to know where this variant on the, um, “no true Scotsman” legend came about. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/2 "2010-02-23T17:22:25Z")
There’s been several urban legends about the queen reviewing troops and some guy in a kilt fainting on parade; plus a photo - doctored, I’m sure - of the queen sitting with the front row of a group of kilted soldiers, one who keeps his legs apart. I’ve never heard stories or a royally mandated or ordered cover-up. No true Scotsman would, I’m sure… ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/3 "2010-02-23T18:09:56Z")
I’ve never heard of such a rule, and while it’s true that soldiers are not allowed to wear underwear with the kilt there’s no obligation on anyone else to conform to it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/4 "2010-02-23T19:37:39Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > There’s been several urban legends about the queen reviewing troops and some guy in a kilt fainting on parade; plus a photo - doctored, I’m sure - of the queen sitting with the front row of a group of kilted soldiers, one who keeps his legs apart. There are two versions of the photo, one with naughty bits and one without, and [Snopes isn’t sure](http://snopes.com/photos/risque/queen.asp)which one is the original. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/5 "2010-02-23T19:44:51Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > I’ve never heard of such a rule, and while it’s true that soldiers are not allowed to wear underwear with the kilt Cite? This sounds like an urban legend to me. Yes, [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilt) says it, but it is marked “citation needed.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/6 "2010-02-23T19:52:59Z")
In any case, **Malleus** ’s Snopes story seems to definitively answer the OP’s question: > [@](#): > > Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ed Brown confirmed that Lt Col West was not wearing underpants. So apparently there is no official rule in effect mandating the wearing of underwear beneath kilts if the occupant of the Scottish throne is female. The [Cape Town Highlander regiment](http://www.cthighlanders.co.za/cth/Customs.htm) says: > [@](#): > > There is a widely-held belief that Highlanders wear underpants when a Queen is on the throne, but not during a King’s reign. > > This is totally incorrect. Highlanders never wear underpants under the kilt - these effete garments were first introduced into Scotland by the English, and to this day Highland soldiers all over the world go without under-garments when wearing the kilt, in tribute to the fierce mountain warriors of olden days. > > For a true Highland soldier, going without underpants when wearing the kilt is yet another mark of pride which sets him apart from all other soldiers. > > One theory about the origins of the incorrect belief about the underpants mentioned above is that on at least one occasion Highlanders parading before Queen Victoria were ordered to wear underpants in case their kilts blew up and shocked her. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/7 "2010-02-23T21:35:32Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > The [Cape Town Highlander regiment](http://www.cthighlanders.co.za/cth/Customs.htm) says: I would point out that[ol] [li]It is a South African regiment, not a British (and so not a ‘true’ Scottish one).[/li][li]The page is headed "Cape Town Highlanders have various custom and usages that set them apart from other Scottish and non-Scottish regiments. Many of them relate to dress, such as the following: "[/li][li] Hi… oh, never mind.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/8 "2010-02-23T21:39:13Z")
Nevertheless, regardless of the reliability/applicability of the cite in question, it shows I didn’t just hallucinate the existence of the belief. Thanks, **Kimstu**! ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/9 "2010-02-23T21:58:56Z")
I think the whole point of not wearing underwear under the kilt is to give one a quick and effective way of proving that one is _not_ a lady wearing a skirt. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/10 "2010-02-23T22:01:17Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I would point out that > > It is a South African regiment, not a British (and so not a ‘true’ Scottish one). > > The page is headed “Cape Town Highlanders have various custom and usages that set them apart from other Scottish and non-Scottish regiments. Many of them relate to dress, such as the following:” Yes, but note that the quoted excerpt says “to this day Highland soldiers **all over the world** go without under-garments when wearing the kilt” (emphasis added). I know of no reason at present to contradict or mistrust that statement insofar as it applies to any Highlander regiment. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/11 "2010-02-23T22:23:17Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > I think the whole point of not wearing underwear under the kilt is to give one a quick and effective way of proving that one is _not_ a lady wearing a skirt. I remember working the World Scottish Festival one year. I went to the washroom and there was some guy in a kilt using the urinal; he just held up the front of the kilt with both hands and hoped it wasn’t aimed at his shoes. I suspect the photo with the queen is altered because the lighting is too good for something quite a ways back beneath some heavy cloth. But yes, it sure looks from the smirk on his face he knows exactly what he’s doing, or the rest of the group doesn’t know the South African word for “cheese”. I’m surprise nobody’s pointed oot the standard Scots response - “Wha’s worrrn beneath the kilt? Hoot mon, noothin of courrrse, it’s all in perrrfect worrrkin’ orrrderrr.” (your accent may vary) ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/12 "2010-02-24T19:59:43Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Cite? > > This sounds like an urban legend to me. Yes, [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilt) says it, but it is marked “citation needed.” I’ll cite B.L. Davis, _British Army Uniforms and Insignia of World War Two_, Pt.III Ch.10 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kilt-underwear-rule-suspended-while-there-is-a-queen/530139/13 "2010-02-25T03:13:29Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I’m surprise nobody’s pointed oot the standard Scots response - “Wha’s worrrn beneath the kilt? Hoot mon, noothin of courrrse, it’s all in perrrfect worrrkin’ orrrderrr.” (your accent may vary) And then there’s the story of the guy who asked, “What do you wear under your kilt?” The response was, “Your wife’s lipstick.”