FULL REGALIA
Exquisite handmade garments belonging to three generations of royalty go on display at Kensington Palace
‘As an exhibition curator, you’re not meant to have favourite pieces,’ says Matthew Storey, the collections curator at Historic Royal Palaces, ‘but I have been wanting to display Princess Margaret’s incredible 18th-century-style ballgown for years. It’s never been on show to the public before, which is super exciting from a fashion-history perspective.’
The ballgown in question – an ornate satin and lace confection in pale blue that the Princess wore to a ball at the Mansion House in 1964 – was dreamt up by Oliver Messel, a celebrated theatrical designer (as well as Lord Snowdon's uncle) and forms the centrepiece of a new exhibition at the Orangery at Kensington Palace. ‘Royal Style in the Making’ will showcase over 60 years of regal fashion, created by five of this country’s most illustrious couturiers and worn by three successive generations of the Palace’s glamorous inhabitants.
There will be intimate insights into a pair of world-famous wedding dresses: the drawings, prototypes and correspondence behind the planning of the Queen’s, made by the seasoned ‘first knight of fashion’ Norman Hartnell, whose designs for his other masterpiece – Her Majesty’s coronation gown – will also be on show. Princess Diana’s fairy-tale bridal dress, with its 25-foot train, adorned with lace, sequins and 10,000 pearls, has been loaned by her sons to be shown at the Palace for the first time since she lived there in 1997. It will be flanked by sketches of other similarly romantic pieces by its designers, David and Elizabeth Emanuel, also worn by Diana.
Elsewhere, we can see for ourselves the craftsmanship of David Sassoon in a recreation of his atelier. Illustrations of some of the
Princess of Wales’ favourite Sassoon pieces, some bearing their wearer’s handwritten notes, will also give a fresh insight into the sartorial strategies of one of the world’s most famous fashion icons. ‘Princess Diana never actually wore the broad-brimmed hat shown in the sketch of her beloved ‘Caring’ dress, which she often chose to put on when meeting children because they were drawn to its floral pattern,’ says Storey. ‘She told Sassoon that it would prevent her from getting close to them. These are, after all, working garments; it shows Diana took her role as a working member of the family very seriously.’
Another historical highlight is the simple cotton toile for the Queen Mother’s coronation dress, never seen before by the public and masterminded by Madame Handley-Seymour, the so-called ‘court dressmaker’ and one of the founding members of Britain’s couture industry. ‘This exhibition is all about going behind the scenes and stepping inside the Palace wardrobes. Nothing encapsulates this better than the Queen Mother’s toile,’ says Storey. ‘It still has all the original pins from the 1930s in it, as well as the patterns for the final gown’s embroidery painted on it. This is the garment that shows Handley-Seymour and the Queen Mother working out the story they wanted to tell the nation. For me, there’s no greater pleasure than displaying something like this, so everyone can appreciate it for the first time. It’s a dream come true.’ ‘Royal Style in the Making’ is at Kensington Palace (www.hrp.org.uk) until January 2022.