GORGEOUS OUTFITS FIT FOR A QUEEN

Claire Foy needed 60 outfits, ranging from her stunning Coronation dress to her ‘Balmoral uniform’ of wellies, tweeds and headscarf, for her portrayal of the Queen. ‘If we didn’t get the costumes right nobody would believe anything else,’ says costume designer Michele Clapton. ‘Any footage we could find – newsreels of Elizabeth and Philip arriving for the wedding, the Coronation, Elizabeth arriving home from Kenya after her father died – we tried to replicate the outfits exactly.’

The dress used for the Coronation ceremony was originally made for the jewellery makers Swarovski and comprising hundreds of crystals. ‘Fortunately it fitted

Claire like a glove,’ says Michele. ‘We added embroidery including the leek of Wales, the Irish shamrock and Commonwealth images and it was extremely heavy.’ Not as heavy as the crown though; the real Coronation crown weighs 5lb and the imitation one (left) made of glass and metal is still a hefty 3.3lb.

Elizabeth’s clothes mirror her storyline from newlywed to mother and then queen, and also show how she and her sister Margaret grew apart. ‘At first she was advised by her very strong mother and her style is quite similar to the Queen Mother’s – pretty, a bit fussy,’ says Michele. ‘As a naval wife there’s this carefree open look, and then, as Queen, her dresses are devoid of decoration; like a suit of armour she could hide behind.

‘She and Margaret begin with similar styles but as they’re forced apart by events their dress evolves. Elizabeth stayed quite stiff and formal but Margaret loved fashion and was much more experimental.’

Victoria Hamilton, who plays the Queen Mother, wore a fat suit for most of the shoot. ‘One day we did a flashback scene so she didn’t have to wear it,’ recalls Michele. ‘But most people didn’t realise she’d been padded up and made to look older and asked, “Wow, what’s happened to you? You look amazing!”’

Claire in the Coronation gown