In a special episode of the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential, royal editor Rebecca English tours an exhibition that charts Queen Elizabeth's historic reign through clothing, guided by curator Caroline de Guitaut.
Exhibition Marks the Monarch's Centenary
To commemorate what would have been the monarch's 100th birthday, Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style puts many of her most iconic outfits and accessories on public display for the first time at The King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace.
Coronation Gown Highlights
Among the pieces visitors can examine up close is the historic gown from the Queen's 1953 coronation, created by royal couturier and longtime collaborator Sir Norman Hartnell. Hartnell was given approximately eight months to realise his vision for the outfit, eventually presenting the monarch with eight separate designs to choose from.
The Queen selected the last of Hartnell's eight designs, de Guitaut told English — a gown of ivory silk satin echoing her 1947 wedding dress — but added one instruction of her own. 'The Queen made it very clear that she did not just want emblems from the United Kingdom embroidered on it,' de Guitaut explained. 'She wanted emblems from all the countries where she was then Queen. The gown is almost like a piece of diplomatic messaging.'
Hartnell's original design carried only four emblems: the Tudor rose, the Scottish thistle, the Irish shamrock and, for Wales, a daffodil. After the Queen's intervention, the finished gown featured a richly embroidered array of emblems from across the Commonwealth: the Canadian maple leaf, the Australian wattle, the silver fern of New Zealand, the South African protea, a lotus for India and wheat for Pakistan.
This was the first time a coronation outfit honoured nations from outside the British Isles. The dress also marked another first for royal fashion.
Colourful Embroidery Innovation
'The Queen actually instructed for all the embroidery to be done in colour,' de Guitaut explained. 'This was a first at the time — but helped make the piece completely timeless.' Where past coronation gowns had been worked almost entirely in silver and white thread, the Queen wanted the emblems stitched in lifelike colour, giving the dress a richness that has not faded today.
All the embroidery is thought to have brought the gown's weight to between four and five kilograms. Hartnell was forced to sew horsehair padding into the hips to help it keep its shape.
For more of the late Queen's most iconic outfits explained, subscribe to Palace Confidential on YouTube to watch the full episode.
