Coronation gown of Elizabeth II

Coronation gown of Elizabeth II

Artist	Norman Hartnell
Year	1953 (1953)

The Coronation gown of Elizabeth II was worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation on 2 June 1953. Ordered in October 1952, the dress took eight months of research, design and workmanship to make the intricate embroidery of the dress. It featured the floral emblems of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, including the English Tudor rose, Scots thistle, Welsh leek, Irish shamrock, Australian wattle, Canadian maple leaf, New Zealand silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute.^[1][2]

The dress, like the wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth and other notable royal dresses of this period was designed by Norman Hartnell.^[3][4] It was Queen Elizabeth’s wish that the coronation dress should be made of satin, like her wedding dress, with accentuation of regal elegance, but with no undue emphasis on shape.^[5] The gown now forms part of the Royal Collection^[6]

Design

The idea behind the dress was to produce a historic masterpiece for such an occasion, meaning that it had to stand out. Like her wedding dress, the costume was designed by Norman Hartnell. Hartnell had proposed at least eight different dresses; the first, very simple, similar to that worn by Queen Victoria at her Coronation; the second, a modern slim-fitting sheath gown, embroidered in gold; the third, a crinoline style coronation dress of white satin, silver tissue and crusty silver lace; the fourth, white satin embroidered with Madonna and arum lilies and encrusted with pendant pearls; the fifth, a colourful design of violets, roses and wheat, the sixth, white satin with gold, silver and copper embroideries featuring branches of oak leaves with acorns; the seventh, the Tudor Rose of England, appliqued in gold tissue against white satin and the eighth, similar to the seventh, but incorporating the floral emblems of Great Britain and the Commonwealth.^[5] The Queen partly opted for the last option but only if Hartnell introduced some colour and made some adjustments; a ninth option was drawn up and revealed to Elizabeth at Sandringham.^[5] Hartnell also secretly later added an embroidered extra four-leaved Shamrock on the left side of her dress as an omen for good fortune.^[5]

The final version featured a Tudor rose, embroidered in very pale pink silk, with pearls, gold and silver bullion and rose diamante, the Welsh Leek, embroidered in white silk with leaves of very pale green silk, the Scottish thistle, with pale mauve silk and amethysts and a calyx embroidered in reseda green silk, silver thread and diamante dewdrops and the Irish shamrock, like the Thistle, was embroidered in soft green silk, silver thread, bullion and diamante.^[5] The gown also featured floral emblems of the other major countries of the Commonwealth, including the Canadian maple leaf, made with green silk embroideries, with a crystal vein and gold border, the silver fern of New Zealand, embroidered in straight stitches using soft green silk and veined in silver and crystal, the Australian wattle flower, made with a coarse mimosa yellow wool and green and gold foliage, the South African Protea, embroidered in shaded pink silk, with green silk leaves and silver outlined petals, the Lotus flower of India, made with seed pearls and diamante, and mother of pearl embroidered petals, the Lotus flower of Ceylon, made with opals, mother of pearl, diamante and soft green silk and the three emblems of Pakistan; Wheat, in oat-shaped diamante and fronds of golden crystal; cotton, made in silver with leaves of green silk and Jute, embroidered in green silk and golden thread.^[5]

On top of the dress, Hartnell designed a plain white linen robe called a colobium sindonis, covering the short-sleeved, low-neck gown.^[5] The robe, attached to the shoulders, was a crimson velvet mantle edged with ermine and featured two rows of delicately embroidered gold lace and gold filigree. On the Coronation Day, the six maids of honour carried this robe behind the Queen.^[5]

Making

The dress, which was ordered in October 1952, took eight months of research, design and workmanship to make.^[7] Its intricate embroidery required many hours of diligent work by the dressmakers.^[7] The silk used to make the gown was obtained from Lady Hart Dyke's silk farm at Lullingstone Castle. The dress required the efforts of at least three dressmakers, six embroideresses and the Royal School of Needlework, responsible for the embroidery worked in gold bullion thread. The Robe of State of Crimson Velvet, which was attached to the shoulders of the gown, was hand-woven by Warners of Braintree, Essex, using Lullingstone Castle silk and made by Messrs. Ede and Ravenscroft of Chancery Lane, London.^[5]

See also

• Wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth

References

1. ^ Garden Club of America (1958). Bulletin of the Garden Club of America. The Club. http://books.google.com/books?id=JKUhAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 30 April 2011. 
2. ^ Cotton, Belinda; Ramsey, Ron, By appointment: Norman Hartnell's sample for the Coronation dress of Queen Elizabeth II, National Gallery of Australia, http://www.nga.gov.au/ByAppointment/, retrieved 30 April 2011 
3. ^ Denney, Colleen (April 2005). Representing Diana, Princess of Wales: cultural memory and fairy tales revisited. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 117. ISBN 9780838640234. http://books.google.com/books?id=NU7rpq8HFxYC&pg=PA117. Retrieved 30 April 2011. 
4. ^ Steele, Valerie (9 November 2010). The Berg Companion to Fashion. Berg Publishers. p. 392. ISBN 9781847885920. http://books.google.com/books?id=Hemsvn9ZbRkC&pg=PA392. Retrieved 30 April 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Gown". Fashion Era. http://www.fashion-era.com/coronation_dress.htm. Retrieved 30 April 2011. 
6. ^ Royal Collection feature
7. ^ ^{a b} Fisher, Graham; Fisher, Heather (1964). Elizabeth, Queen & mother: the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the British royal family. Hawthorn Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=IAoRAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 30 April 2011.