Reply #2: The veil, or even a hat, is now optional.

[Matilda]

I came on this article quite by chance:

http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2009/07/vatican-dress-code-dos-and-donts-for.html


It's a bigger faux pas for a woman to wear white to a Papal audience than for her to leave her head uncovered.

The article also deals with the rules for visiting St Peters, and I was reminded of the time I was visiting Rome
many years ago. It was the era of the original mini-skirt, but I'd been careful to put aside a summer shift with
a hemline just below my knees for the visit to the Basilica, as I knew the rules. I covered my bare shoulders
with a cardigan, but I was refused admittance to the Basilica because I had slits in the sides of the skirt,
about 1 1/2 inches long - not exactly wanton. Without them, it would have been difficult to walk properly, but the
Swiss Guards deemed them indecent and refused to allow me in. Somebody offered to lend me a light coat, but I
refused to wear it because I didn't agree that my dress was indecent. So I missed out on the Basilica.

Edit: typo