Buckingham Palace to open Queen Elizabeth II style exhibition

LONDON: The Royal Collection Trust has announced that Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style will open at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, on Saturday.

The exhibition is being presented as a tribute to the late monarch and will chart the development of her style over 10 decades. According to the Trust, it follows her journey from birth to adulthood, from princess to queen, and from off-duty dressing to clothing chosen for the international stage.

Two weeks ago, the Trust released a trailer offering a preview of the exhibition and the story behind Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion legacy. The display will bring together clothing, jewellery, hats, shoes and accessories, along with design sketches, handwritten notes and fabric samples that have not previously been shown.

These materials, the Trust said, reflect the late queen’s close personal role in shaping her wardrobe. The exhibition will feature a number of notable items from different stages of her life, including her christening robe, bridesmaid dress, wedding gown, coronation dress and the outfit she wore to Princess Margaret’s wedding.

Focus on fashion and personal involvement

The exhibition is set to present more than garments alone, with the accompanying sketches and notes offering insight into how Queen Elizabeth II approached her public image through dress. By assembling historic outfits with personal design material, the display aims to show how clothing formed part of her identity over the course of her reign.

Caroline de Guitaut, the exhibition’s curator and Surveyor of The King’s Works of Art, said the event would mark what would have been a milestone year for the late monarch.

“In the year that she would have turned 100 years old, this exhibition will be a celebration of Queen Elizabeth's uniquely British style and her enduring fashion legacy.”, it added.

The Trust has described the exhibition as an intimate portrait of a monarch whose clothing also served as a means of communication. It says the collection offers a closer understanding of how her style came to be seen as a lasting symbol of diplomacy and identity for Britain and beyond.

The exhibition will open at Buckingham Palace’s King’s Gallery on Saturday, bringing together pieces from across Queen Elizabeth II’s life and reign in a single public display.