Royal Watchers Baffled At British Royal Nanny’s Traditional Uniform, Dub It ‘Fashion Fail’

While it was intended to be a modern affair, Princess Charlotte’s christening has drawn flak from royal watchers in Australia, who were unimpressed by royal nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo’s very traditional uniform. Borrallo's outfit baffled many royal watchers Down Under, where the press called it a “uniform fail,” according to the U.K.'s Telegraph.

Charlotte, who was born May 2, was baptized at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on Queen Elizabeth II's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England.

One commentator savaged Borrallo as looking like something out of a “community theater’s production of 'Mary Poppins.' ” “A tall drink of water she was not thanks to the dowdy rags. The nanny ... resembled a lukewarm latte picked up from a roadside fuel station,” wrote Jenna Clarke for Fairfax Media.

The uniform is from the prestigious nanny training school Norland College. It consists of a beige mid-length dress, brown lace-up shoes, white gloves, nurse’s upside-down lapel watch and brown bowler hat with the letter “N” on the front. The formal uniform differs from the “practical uniform,” which consists of navy trousers, blue sweater and blue collared shirt. Clarke said that 1892 appears to be the last time Norland updated the uniform.

A Norland website said the distinctive uniform is intended to ensure Norland Nurses are recognized as professionals wherever they go, and “not mistaken for housemaids.” It added that the uniform was updated in 2013 with a design by Lauren Cope. The website stated that the uniform was updated to reflect Norland’s distinguished heritage.

Borrallo, who the press previously labeled a “Spanish supernanny,” was described as a “right royal fashion victim” by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph. Leigh van den Broeke wrote that the nanny “stuck out like fashion’s sore thumb, propelling the christening back to the Edwardian period in a beige uniform from 1892.” Australian women’s website Mamamia wrote that Borrallo, “aka Mary Poppins, has stepped straight out of the 1940s.”

The college website said that Norland graduates are no longer expected to wear their uniform when working in a family. They can wear it if a family wants them to for special occasions.