1748, the Admiralty: a board recommends blue with red trim for the Royal Navy's first officer's uniform, but George II has just seen the Duchess of Bedford riding in the Park in a habit of blue faced with white — and overrules them on the spot. The colour becomes regulation within the year; "navy blue" enters the language soon after. Bedford Habit turns that royal whim into routine: fashion that hardened into command. The shade for those who make an impression once, and are never asked to repeat it.