And the Queen’s Favourite Colour Is?

The Queen has proven that fashion and style are not the sole preserve of youngsters... at least not in Britain. The monarch, who celebrates 60 years on the throne in 2012, is still regarded as an icon of style and elegance and one of the most recognisable symbols of the British way of life.

The world will celebrate the Queen's birthday on 21 April and this season, perhaps more than any (given the fact her birthday and the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations will be followed by the first anniversary of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton), her wardrobe and fashion style will be under scrutiny.

In fact, so serious is all of this that Vogue has studied the costumes worn by Her Majesty, over the last 12 months, and made a "Vogue chart" from the data. According to the chart, there is a reason why members of the royal family are referred to as being "blue-blooded".

The report revealed that whether the shade was teal, cobalt or powder, 29 percent of the coats, dresses, suits and hats worn by the Queen have been predominantly that colour - blue. In second place was floral (a design more than a solid colour) with 13 percent and then came green, worn famously when she visited Ireland, and then came cream; the latter two were tied at 11 percent.

Apparently brighter colours, like pink and purple (10 percent) and those like red, yellow, orange (four percent) and black (two percent) were next. The Daily Mail commented that if blue was her favourite colour, beige seemed to be her least favourite.

"The Queen loves clothes and is real expert on fabrics. I do think she values my opinion but she is the one who is in control. She always makes the final decision," the Queen's personal assistant Angela Kelly told the Telegraph.

Interestingly, the last time the Queen, Kate Middleton and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, wore the same colour outfit to an outing, the colour was... well, yes, blue.

The Queen wore a pale blue outfit and a blue hat, while Kate wore a blue coat that stood just above the knee and Camilla a navy blue coat with white stripes at the top.

So... why is blue the Queen's favourite colour?