{"id":189347,"date":"2026-04-08T09:18:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/189347\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T09:18:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:18:41","slug":"queen-elizabeth-ii-dines-in-diamonds-and-pearls-at-downing-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/189347\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen Elizabeth II Dines in Diamonds and Pearls at Downing Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive for a dinner party given by Winston and Clementine Churchill at Downing Street in London on April 4, 1955 (PA Images\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

Our look at the fashion and jewels of the late Queen Elizabeth II over the decades brings us today to 1955, when she wore her grandmother\u2019s tiara and a sweeping ballgown for an historic dinner at Downing Street.<\/p>\n

\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive for a dinner party given by Winston and Clementine Churchill at Downing Street in London on April 4, 1955 (PA Images\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth II stepped down from her car on her arrival at No. 10 Downing Street on the evening of April 4, 1955, and reached for her Prime Minister\u2019s outstretched hand. Eighty-year-old Sir Winston Churchill, who had been a Member of Parliament for half a century and served as Prime Minister to both the Queen and her late father, was in the final hours of his premiership. But recurring health problems, including a stroke in 1953, had led him to finally accept the need to step down.<\/p>\n

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\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh depart after a dinner party given by Winston and Clementine Churchill at Downing Street in London on April 4, 1955 (Album\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

Churchill\u2019s last day in office was April 5, but on the night before, he and Lady Churchill hosted a special dinner at Downing Street. The final hurrah was attended by numerous colleagues, allies, and friends, including his successor, Anthony Eden. And, adding a truly regal touch to the moment, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh accepted the invitation to dine that evening as well.<\/p>\n

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\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive for a dinner party given by Winston and Clementine Churchill at Downing Street in London on April 4, 1955 (PA Images\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

The monarch greeted the prime minister in a ballgown made of tulle embellished with sparkling silver beads. She wore the sash and star of the Order of the Garter and a warm fur stole. Her handbag appears to have been made out of a silver metallic fabric, echoing the decorations on the dress.<\/p>\n

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\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive for a dinner party given by Winston and Clementine Churchill at Downing Street in London on April 4, 1955 (PA Images\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

The Queen\u2019s necklace was also an Heirloom of the Crown<\/a>. Her father, King George VI, had commissioned the classic diamond festoon necklace<\/a> five years earlier, using loose diamonds that had been added to the crown collection by his mother, Queen Mary.<\/p>\n

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\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive for a dinner party given by Winston and Clementine Churchill at Downing Street in London on April 4, 1955 (PA Images\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

Elizabeth finished off the jewelry look with a special bracelet: the Edinburgh Wedding Bracelet<\/a>, a gift from her husband to celebrate their wedding in 1947. The diamonds used to make the bracelet were taken from a tiara that belonged to his mother, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark. She\u2019d received the tiara as a gift from her Russian imperial relatives, Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.<\/p>\n

A quick scheduling reminder: Because I\u2019m currently traveling, there will be no Wednesday Substack newsletter<\/a> this week. See you here tomorrow at our usual time for more sparkle!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive for a dinner party given by Winston and Clementine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-189347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}