Privilège du blanc

Le privilège du blanc (Italian: Il privilegio del bianco) is a French term meaning "the privilege of the white" used for a Catholic tradition whereby certain designated Catholic queens and princesses are permitted to wear a white dress and white veil during an audience with the Pope.

The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household sometimes issues advanced instructions when the privilege may be used, such as during papal audiences, papal coronations, significant liturgical events or inaugural masses of the Pope within the Vatican.

A Catholic princess or queen retains the privilege at the discretion of the Pope, by which she remains a Catholic in good public standing; or married to another Catholic monarch, or simply granted by the Pope at his dispensation. A Catholic royal may also choose to freely exercise the privilege depending on the importance of occasion, termed as "declining the privilege" and does not negate her privilege should she choose to wear black garments at certain points of Papal audiences.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, black garments signify both virtues of piety and humility. Protocol for papal audiences formerly required that women wear a long black dress with a high collar and long sleeves, and a black mantilla.

Certain Catholic queens and princesses have traditionally been exempted from wearing black. The Queens of Italy, Belgium, and Spain, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, and the princesses of the House of Savoy have been permitted to wear a white dress and white veil for a papal audience.

The privilege is not used by the wives of all Catholic monarchs or by the wives of non-Catholic monarchs. Even though they are Catholics, it is not accorded to the Queen of Lesotho or the Princess of Liechtenstein. The privilege is also not accorded to Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who is the Catholic wife of the Protestant King Willem-Alexander.

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