When King Charles walked Meghan Markle down the aisle at Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel in 2018, all eyes were on the bride. But while the fashion world fawned over her Givenchy gown, fastidious royal followers took note of her future father-in-law’s look too. Next to a royal wedding dress with a five-metre-long embroidered silk train, the King’s gray three-piece suit might have appeared unremarkable, except for one detail. It was 34 years old.

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“I’m one of those people who hate throwing anything away,” the future king said in an interview with British Vogue in 2020, adding that he’ll keep wearing that particular morning coat “as long as I can go on getting into it .”

It’s not often that a gray suit makes headlines, but the King’s haberdashery is more than a fashion statement. “Fashion has, for centuries, been at the