HRM Ivie Atuwatse III: The Queen of Style

Beauty and royalty often go together. Yet, in one such as Olori Ivie Atuwatse III, they cannot be in better harmony.

Olori Ivie is the Queen Consort of the Warri Kingdom. Her husband, Ogiame Atuwatse III, is the Olu of Warri. She is also a lawyer trained at the London School of Economics, called to the Nigerian Bar in 2010.

Her public image combines royal poise with contemporary sophistication. She wears headwraps, elegant gowns, and structured tailoring. Having worked with Nigerian couture label TUBO, including pieces for her 40th birthday celebration, her wardrobe reflects an understanding of proportion and the symbolism of dress.

Other royal women across Africa have approached fashion as spectacle. Olori Ivie treats it as language, clearly aware that spectacle fades but language communicates.

Unsurprisingly, she does not rely on fashion alone. She co-founded Colour Couture, a fashion label, and Breakfast in Bed, a Lagos logistics company. She sits on the boards of Wells Property Development Company, Wells Carlton, and Wells Bakehouse.

Her initiatives extend into healthcare, education, and technology. The Wuwu Ore Initiative runs medical outreach in remote riverine communities and oil-degraded areas. EstablishHER provides grants and mentorship to female micro-entrepreneurs. The Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo STEM Centre equips indigent children in the Niger Delta with technological skills. The ‘I Am Itsekiri’ digital village is a mobile application mapping the global Itsekiri diaspora with language and cultural preservation modules.

In October 2024, the queen became the first African royal woman awarded the Freedom of the City of London. She was named pioneer Ambassador for Girls in Nigeria by Plan International, heading an initiative targeting safe spaces for 20 million girls by 2028. She received the US President’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Her style and her work reinforce each other. Does the crown confer status? Yes, but it is her work that is earning her respect. In a space where royal visibility often settles for ceremony, Olori Ivie has built a public profile that moves between the palace, the boardroom, and the riverine clinic. She is, in every sense, a queen of style.