GRADUATES BARRED FROM SHOWING CLEAVAGE

MBABANE – When one has to be in the presence of royalty, there are etiquettes that have to be adhered to.

Yesterday, His Majesty King Mswati III, as Chancellor of the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), graced the institution’s 39th graduation ceremony where he was joined by Emakhosikati, princes, princesses and other members of the royal family. Despite that this is a day of fashion and style, the over 1 500 graduates were expected to respect certain dress code and behaviour protocol because they were in the midst of royalty. Moreover, they had to go before His Majesty to whom they kneeled, bowed or curtseyed. However, the female graduates, as they wore their best outfits on one of the most important days of their lives, appeared not to be aware of one etiquette; covering their cleavage. A large number of the female graduates wore outfits that exposed their cleavage and protocol officers worked tirelessly in having them ‘cover up’ before they appeared in front of the King.

Set of fashion

A protocol officer from the university took it upon herself to ensure that the graduates appeared before the King with their cleavage covered up, while a female plain-clothes police officer also acted as the last port of call. She ensured that after the graduates had gone past the protocol officer, they did not revert to exposing their cleavages. She would now and again be heard telling the girls to ‘cover up your breasts; use your gown to cover up’. Even though most of the girls seemed surprised at this directive, they heeded the call and covered up. In the British royal family, its members are expected to follow a strict set of fashion and beauty looks that have been protocol for centuries.

According to women magazine Bustle, some of these are said to be common sense, others are a little quirky, and some are just downright funny.  One of these rules is that women in the royal family should cover up their cleavage. “Cleavage is a no-go for the women in the royal family, but sometimes the telltale line pops out when you bend over or get out of a car. Even that would cause a scandal, but there’s a way around that: cleavage bags. Princess Diana was infamous for them, where she would use her clutches to hide the front of her dress every time she hopped out of a car,” the magazine once wrote.

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