{"id":251891,"date":"2026-06-02T05:16:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T05:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/251891\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T05:16:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T05:16:21","slug":"the-exquisite-design-and-surprising-color-of-queen-elizabeth-iis-coronation-dress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/251891\/","title":{"rendered":"The Exquisite Design (and Surprising Color!) of Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s Coronation Dress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

With the big exhibition of Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s fashion officially extended in London, thousands more will be able to see her incredible gowns, including the star of the show: the dress she wore for her coronation, 73 years ago today. Today, I\u2019m sharing my own photos of the gown from my visit to the exhibition press preview in April, plus some fascinating facts about the dress and its seven-decade history.<\/p>\n

\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style, the current exhibition curated by the Royal Collection Trust at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, is a tour-de-force of fashion<\/a>, chronicling a century of the late monarch\u2019s sartorial life. There are countless highlight moments in the exhibition, but among the most stunning is the display of her coronation gown, which towers over the rest of the garments in the exhibition\u2019s largest room.<\/p>\n

The dress, made for her by Sir Norman Hartnell, is a magnificent testament to the grandeur and glamour of the 1953 coronation. In the current exhibition, the gown is displayed alongside several other interest artifacts, including embroidery samples produced during the design process, and a gorgeous Hartnell sketch of the Queen wearing the gown, which he presented to Elizabeth as a commemorative gift.<\/p>\n

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\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II poses in her coronation dress, 1953 (Smith Archive\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

The coronation dress is surely one of the most recognizable garments from the late Queen\u2019s wardrobe. It was photographed extensively during her lifetime, worn for several important public events, and displayed frequently. Above, Elizabeth wears the dress with the Coronation Diamonds<\/a> in 1953.<\/p>\n

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\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip arrive for the Opening of Parliament in New Zealand on January 12, 1954 (SuperStock\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

After the coronation, Elizabeth wore the dress several more times, mostly for state occasions throughout the Commonwealth. It was carefully packed and transported around the world<\/a> with the Queen\u2019s wardrobe during the coronation tour of 1953-54. Above, she wears the dress with Queen Alexandra\u2019s Kokoshnik Tiara<\/a> for the Opening of Parliament in Wellington in January 1954.<\/p>\n

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\"TheThe Queen and the Duke leave Independence Hall in Colombo, April 1954 (PA Images\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

She also fulfilled a specific request from the government of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, wearing the dress for the Opening of Parliament in Colombo in April 1954. On that occasion, in blazing heat, she also wore the pearl setting of the Vladimir Tiara<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

If my notes are correct, Elizabeth\u2019s final public appearance in the gown took place in 1957, when she wore it for the Opening of Parliament in Ottawa during a tour of Canada. Since then, of course, it has been displayed countless times, and it\u2019s only on those occasions that the color and detail of the gown really springs to life.<\/p>\n

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\"QueenQueen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are pictured on her Coronation Day on June 2, 1953 (World History Archive\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

Even the color photographs from the 1950s fail to adequately capture the pastel brilliance of the gown. In this color photograph from the coronation, the details of the gown recede into shimmering flatness.<\/p>\n

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\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

But the reality is so much more complex. Even my photographs, taken earlier this spring with a modern camera, can\u2019t fully do it justice, but I\u2019ll share some of the detail shots I took of the dress anyway. They offer a much better view of the intricacy of the stitching and beading of the iconic gown. Here, for example, you get a good view of the pearls embroidered on much of the dress, as well as some of the shamrocks stitched into the skirt.<\/p>\n

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\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

The thistles, roses, wattles, and maple leaves, among other emblems, are also more vivid in this picture. I like how the complex beading on the gown\u2019s hem is showcased here as well.<\/p>\n

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\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

This is one of my very favorite photographs from the day: a stunning view of the embroidery of each of the floral national emblems. The golds, the pinks, the greens, and the yellows are just stunning.<\/p>\n

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\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

The embroidery samples displayed alongside the gown are spectacular in their own right. Look at the detailed stitching on this pair of Canadian maple leaves.<\/p>\n

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\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

And, just for fun, here\u2019s another look at the coronation fan, which features Elizabeth\u2019s royal cypher rendered in diamonds.<\/p>\n

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\"ViewsViews of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on April 9, 2026 (Photograph \u00a9 Lauren Kiehna. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one more glimpse of my visit to see the coronation dress in April. If you want even more about the ceremony and the dress that the Queen wore for the transformative moment, let me suggest the following:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Views of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style at the King\u2019s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-251891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251891","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=251891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}