First lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump wore black veils and tea-length dresses to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday.
“Per Vatican protocol, women who have an audience with the pope are required to wear long sleeves, formal black clothing, and a veil to cover the head,” Melania Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told CNN.
Pope Francis with Ivanka Trump and first lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
While the two women followed the Vatican’s protocol, they decided not to wear the customary headscarf during their visit days earlier to Saudi Arabia. Grisham said Saudi Arabia did not request that the first lady wear a headscarf during the president’s visit.
Sources told CNN that the first lady had significant preparation with help from the State Department on each country’s customs before the trip.
Former first lady Michelle Obama also wore a black veil while meeting Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. And like Melania Trump, Obama did not wear a headscarf during a visit to Saudi Arabia in 2015.
