Are the Royal Family allowed to dress up for Halloween and do they celebrate it?

The Royal Family love to celebrate occasions but many fans might be wondering if they’re allowed to dress up for Halloween and if they’re set to mark it this year.

From King Charles hosting Christmas at Sandringham to the Prince and Princess of Wales marking Father’s Day and Mother’s Day with special new photos, there are certain times of the year that stand out for their royal moments. The same is true of Easter when the royals gather at Windsor Castle and the monarch’s official birthday in June when the Trooping the Colour parade is held. 

However, with autumn well and truly here some fans might be wondering whether to expect any Halloween activities from the Royal Family. For many people Halloween means dressing up in spooky and creative costumes and here we reveal whether the Royal Family are allowed to dress up for Halloween and if they’re likely to celebrate in 2023. 

Are the Royal Family allowed to dress up for Halloween? 

Officially, yes, the Royal Family are allowed to dress up for Halloween as there are no specific rules that suggest they can’t. However, adult working members of the Royal Family, especially very senior royals like King Charles and Queen Camilla and Prince William and the Princess of Wales, almost certainly won’t ever be seen doing this. They take their royal roles incredibly seriously and if they were to attend an engagement on Halloween, dressing up in a costume could be seen as inappropriate given the often serious or poignant focuses of their visits. 

Already in recent years the palace has stopped announcing Kate’s outfit details for engagements. This is thought to be in an attempt to focus people’s attention away from her style and onto her royal work, making it clear this is a priority. If members of the Royal Family are going to dress up  for Halloween they would most likely do it at home to mark the occasion, when no-one would be photographing them and they’re in private. This, of course, also means that fans wouldn’t necessarily know anything about it unless they discussed it in passing during a visit.

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Some adult members of the Royal Family have previously dressed up for Halloween - namely Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank. According to Finding Freedom, in 2016 the couples both attended the same Halloween party in disguise in the US wearing Venetian masks. However, at the time it’s said no-one knew it was them and neither couple are working royals, meaning they have slightly more freedom when it comes to expectations and upholding royal traditions. 

Does the Royal Family celebrate Halloween and will they this year? 

The Royal family doesn’t publicly celebrate Halloween in the same way it does Christmas and Easter. That doesn’t mean that none of them have ever marked the occasion, though. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrated Halloween the night they attended a party in disguise and apparently it’s something they tried to encourage Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to enjoy.

During her appearance on the Ellen Show in 2021, Meghan explained that they had tried to organise some Halloween fun for her and Prince Harry’s two children. However, it seems the Sussex kids weren’t quite as into Halloween as their parents…

"We wanted to do something fun for the kids, but the kids were just not into it at all,” she said. “Archie was a dinosaur for maybe five minutes…”

She and Ellen discussed how Princess Lilibet had been a skunk and that Prince Harry had “talked [Archie] into having” the dinosaur head on. Now they’re older it’s possible the Sussex family will be celebrating Halloween this year and their Wales cousins might have some Halloween fun too.

The Prince and Princess of Wales might not dress up in public for the big day, but, as per Hello!, Kate reportedly took Prince George, Charlotte and Louis trick or treating in London in 2022. They could potentially go again in Berkshire this year although if they do, it’s unlikely fans will get a glimpse or know what costumes they chose if they dressed up.

Out of all the members of the Royal Family who could celebrate Halloween this year, former royal butler Grant Harrold has expressed his belief that it will be the “younger royals” who might do it.

Opening up on behalf of Slingo, he said, “From my experience, the senior royals - King Charles, Queen Camilla, and late Queen Elizabeth - didn’t celebrate it extensively. They wouldn’t experience trick-or-treaters for obvious reasons. There were staff parties, and staff were encouraged to have fun and attend events a lot.”

Instead, he reflected that the likes of Prince William, Kate, Prince Harry and Meghan “used to go off to Halloween parties or have one themselves with their friends”.

“That’s more in line with the fact that it is more of an American celebration than it is widely celebrated in the UK,” he added. “It has become more popular in recent years, but I think the royals do associate it with being American. The younger royals will more likely be the ones celebrating it.”

So whilst the Royal Family are allowed to dress up for Halloween, it's unlikely we'll see any of them do so in public and it seems as though only the royal children might be eager to get involved in celebrating the occasion.