Flowery silk dressing gown worn by Prince Albert is rare glimpse of his ‘personal tastes’
HISTORIC Royal Palaces (HRP) has acquired its first item of clothing owned by Prince Albert, reinstating him as a fashion icon with a flowered dressing gown very different to his formal public wardrobe. The dressing gown still has remnants of its wearer’s sweat around the collar
It will join dozens of items of clothing owned by Queen Victoria at HRP, which overseas the historic elements of Kensington Palace, where she once lived. The acquisition will allow the public to see the private side of Prince Albert and his sartorial tastes. The gown was bought for £3,000 at auction.
It had been given to Rudolph Löhlein, a valet to the prince and personal attendant to Victoria, and has been passed down in his family since the 1850s.
Eleri Lynn, the collections curator at HRP, said items of clothing worn by the prince were “especially rare” because Victoria kept so many of them after his death rather than passing them as gifts to loyal servants. “Albert was undoubtedly very fashionable at the time,” she said. “This is very flowery, which you don’t quite expect from seeing the military uniforms he was accustomed to being seen in… It’s a fantastic glimpse into his personal tastes.”