LONDON: The largest-ever exhibition of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion, including the opulent gowns she wore for her wedding and coronation, will go on display at Buckingham Palace next year to mark the centenary of her birth, officials said Tuesday.
The landmark royal exhibition will feature some 200 items — about half of them never publicly displayed before — that chart the monarch’s life and her historic 70-year reign.
Elizabeth, who died in September 2022 at 96, was the longest-reigning monarch Britain has ever known, and her clothing archive is considered one of the most important collections of 20th-century British fashion. She would have celebrated her 100th birthday on April 21, 2026.
Highlights include a tulle bridesmaid dress worn by an 8-year-old Princess Elizabeth in 1934 and many beautifully tailored couture dresses by the monarch’s most influential designer, Norman Hartnell.
Hartnell was the man behind an apple-green gown the queen wore for a state banquet given for US President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington, D.C. in 1957; a pastel blue gown with matching jacket that Elizabeth wore for her sister Princess Margaret’s 1960 wedding; as well as the queen’s own wedding and coronation dresses.
Visitors to the exhibition will also see items from Elizabeth’s private, off-duty wardrobe, from her riding clothes and Harris tweed jackets to raincoats and headscarves, as well as design sketches and fabric samples that give an insight into the process of dressing her.
While the queen was known for her elegant and conservative style, the collection included a somewhat surprising and avant-garde item: A clear transparent raincoat by the couturier Hardy Amies, made in the 1960s. The raincoat was designed to allow Elizabeth’s bright daywear to be visible to crowds no matter the weather.
The display will also include pieces by three contemporary British designers — Erdem Moralioglu, Richard Quinn and Christopher Kane — influenced by the monarch’s style to highlight her legacy.
“Queen Elizabeth II’s wardrobe is one of the most significant living archives in modern fashion history. From the decline of the court dressmaker to the rise of couturiers like Hartnell and Hardy Amies, her garments tell the story of Britain and its changing identity through fashion,” Kane said.
“For designers and students, it offers a master-class in silhouette, construction, repetition, symbolism and, perhaps most importantly, restraint,” the designer added.
“Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style” will be staged at Buckingham Palace from April 10, 2026 to Oct. 18, 2026. Tickets go on sale Tuesday.
Buckingham Palace will stage the largest-ever display of Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion next year
https://arab.news/6utzn
Buckingham Palace will stage the largest-ever display of Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion next year
Mick Jagger’s fiancee ‘physically attacked’ at exclusive London club
- Melanie Hamrick, 38, dined with a friend before heading to private members’ club Annabel’s in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, where the incident happened
- The author, choreographer and former ballerina has been in a relationship with the 82-year-old Rolling Stones singer since 2014 and they have a 9-year-old son together
LONDON: Melanie Hamrick, Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger’s fiancee, said she was attacked at an elite and exclusive private member’s club in Mayfair, central London.
The 38-year-old said the incident on Tuesday at Annabel’s in Berkeley Square had left her heartbroken and shaken.
In a message posted later that night on Instagram, she wrote: “This is incredibly hard to share, but I was physically attacked at Annabel’s Mayfair tonight.
“I’m so thankful to my friends for protecting me. Two people grabbed me from behind and thank God for the good people who stepped in to help me.
“I’m shaken, sad and heartbroken that people can treat each other this way.”
The message was deleted a few hours after it appeared.
Hamrick has been in a relationship with 82-year-old Jagger since 2014, and she confirmed in April last year that they became engaged about two or three years earlier. They have a son, Deveraux, who was born in 2016.
Hamrick is a choreographer, author and former ballerina who performed with the American Ballet Theatre for 15 years before retiring in 2019.
Before the incident on Tuesday, she had dined with a socialite friend, Emma Thynn, before heading to Annabel’s. Sources at the venue said staff were not notified of an attack. The Metropolitan Police said it had not receive any report of an incident, the Daily Mail newspaper reported.
The incident is believed to have taken place outside of the club. In the past few weeks there has been a series of daytime heists targeting luxury goods stores across London. It is not known if the incident involving Hamrick was related to these.
However, the area around the prestigious Berkeley Square has become one of the worst in London, and even in Europe, for robberies and street crime, the Daily Mail said. Official figures show that people in the area were 30 times more likely to fall victim to crime compared with those in other parts of the city, the newspaper added.
Numbers of thefts and robberies, mainly of mobile phones, have tripled in London over the past four years, with tens of thousands of reported cases, particularly in the upmarket Mayfair and St James’s areas.
Organized criminal gangs have reportedly been targeting high-value luxury brands such as Rolex and Yves Saint Laurent across London. Some visitors have even hired private security while visiting the city.
Last month, the Daily Mail reported that Tom Cruise, 63, had abruptly moved out of his £35 million ($47 million) luxury apartment in One Hyde Park, a high-rise in West London, over safety fears.
