Crowning Moment: What to Expect, Sartorially Speaking, at the Coronation
“Ready, girls?”
That’s what the nervous, excited Queen Elizabeth II asked her six maids of honor minutes before making her way up the aisle of Westminster Abbey for her coronation in 1953, a spectacle that unfurled in front of 8,000 people and was televised for the first time in history.
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They were all wearing Norman Hartnell couture gowns. The maids’ styles were made from ivory silk with gold embroidery, but the queen’s was altogether different.
The 27-year-old Elizabeth had worked closely with Hartnell on her coronation dress, a white duchess satin gown with floral emblems representing her nine dominions, picked out in shiny threads, seed pearls, sequins and crystals.
Hartnell even added an extra four-leaf shamrock on the left side of the skirt so the young royal’s hand could rest on it for good luck. The charm turned out to be a lucky one with the queen, who died last September at 96 years old, becoming Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
Journalist and author Anne de Courcy remembers the day. “It was almost like a fairy tale. It was the same year that [post-World War II] rationing stopped, and we had all been through such a traumatic time after the war. And there she was, with every head of state, and pageantry like people hadn’t seen for ages.
“There was an aura of romance, and tragedy, about her because no one had expected the king [Elizabeth’s father, George VI] to die so young and everyone knew what a devoted family they were. And it was very romantic to have a young woman take over after all the events of the past,” de Courcy says.
Seventy years later, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth’s son King Charles III will have an altogether different — and more democratic — flavor.
The king, who’ll be crowned alongside his wife Queen Consort Camilla on May 6, wants the event to be shorter (it’s set to last a little more than one hour, instead of three); with fewer guests (2,000 rather than 8,000), and a greater focus on religion, cultural diversity and community.
“He’s inviting lot of people for what they do, rather than what they are,” says de Courcy, noting that peers, or members of the House of Lords, won’t receive automatic invitations nor will members of the House of Commons. Only 25 members each from each house are expected to be invited.
Instead, Commonwealth and international heads of state, as well as religious and community leaders, are set to take priority. It marks a major break with tradition and there will undoubtedly be many disappointed hopefuls.
De Courcy — who’s written books on 20th-century figures such as Lord Snowdon and Diana Mosley and whose latest book is “Five Love Affairs and a Friendship: The Paris Life of Nancy Cunard, Icon of the Jazz Age” — says the guest list may be small, but it will demonstrate Charles’ — and Britain’s — global status.
“There will be the golden coach, there will be a spectacle. Heads of state have been invited from all around the world and King Charles is actually friends with many of them. There’s a lot of soft power behind this,” de Courcy says.
Author and royal expert Hugo Vickers, who has recently published “Coronation: The Crowning of Elizabeth II,” says there will be far fewer members of the royal family taking part in the coronation, compared with 1953.
It’s part of the king’s drive to streamline the royal family, alleviate the burden on the state and highlight the institution’s commitment to hard work, diplomacy and the environment.
“Is it right to put on a big show at the time of austerity, when people are having a problem paying their bills?” asks Vickers, adding that the king has been “rather clever because he wants the coronation to be a more modest affair. And, inevitably, it will be.”
Vickers says people should expect to see “a very small royal family” taking part in the coronation procession and standing alongside the king and queen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the event.
They’ll be limited to the “working royals,” those who carry out regular duties on behalf of the king and queen, and who work full time to promote and raise money for their charities.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children will be in the procession, along with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh; Princess Anne, and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence, and the late queen’s cousins, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke of Kent, and his sister, Princess Alexandra.
Prince Andrew, who was forced to renounce his royal duties in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, won’t be in the procession or on the balcony and neither will Prince Harry, who lives full-time in California with his wife and children.
The democratic spirit will sweep through the long holiday weekend that follows the coronation with a concert at Windsor Castle to be broadcast live by the BBC and the palace encouraging Britons to celebrations with their communities and to volunteer, with initiatives such as The Big Lunch and The Big Help Out.
Buckingham Palace has said the event “will reflect the monarch’s role today and look toward the future,” while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.
Sartorially speaking, it will also be a simpler, and more modern, affair.
Once again, the king plans to break with the past and swap traditional breeches and stockings for his naval uniform. He’ll carry a sword and display honors such as the Order of the Garter; the Order of the Thistle Sash; the Order of Merit; the Garter Star, and the Thistle Star.
According to media reports, Camilla will wear a couture dress by Bruce Oldfield, a royal family favorite who used to make clothing for Princess Diana. Oldfield has declined to comment.
She’ll wear a crown originally made by Garrard for Queen Mary, who was also a queen consort and who was crowned alongside King George V in 1911.
Charles and Camilla will pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II by having the crown reset with the Cullinan III, IV and V diamonds. The diamonds were part of the queen’s personal jewelry collection for many years and were often worn by her as brooches.
Those diamonds will certainly add a dose of bling to the more restrained occasion.
In keeping with the pared-back mood, guests have been asked to dial down the sartorial grandeur. According to The Telegraph, members of the House of Lords, or peers, as they’re known, would traditionally wear coronation robes.
Instead, peers have been asked to wear the plainer parliamentary robes or simply “business attire.” In the old days, peers — and their wives — would have also worn coronets, or small embellished crowns denoting their rank. They don’t fit the new dress code either.
Vickers says that at the queen’s coronation in 1953 the peers’ wives, with their long white gloves, looked like swans as they raised their coronets and placed them on their heads. “That just won’t happen this time. It will never happen again, because you can’t really go back,” he says, adding that the British aristocracy will no longer play a big role in coronations.
Stephen Jones, who is making hats for the occasion, says he believes guests will embrace the more restrained spirit of the occasion, and dress with respect and in keeping with the king’s wishes.
“The message King Charles will want to send out is a very contemporary one, not one of an imperial ruling family, as it was many years ago. He, more than anybody else, is aware of trying to make the monarchy modern — it’s something he’s been doing his entire life.”
Jones believes the coronation will be “a celebration, but at the same time the message of discretion and elegance is probably the most important one. People will want to keep it modern, and elegantly simple — but it’s not a fashion show. They’re aware it’s a historic moment, and they’ll be asking themselves ‘How does it look now?’ ‘How will it look in 10 years’ time, or in 100 years’ time?’”
Instead, Jones believes the coronation’s true pageantry will come from the military.
“The people who will absolutely go for it, and who will look completely resplendent will be the Yeomen of the Guard, the Horse Guards and the people in uniform,” he says, referring to some of the oldest military corps in Britain.
Campbell Carey, head cutter and creative director of Huntsman on Savile Row, also believes that tradition will be top of mind at the event — but thinks that guests will go for glamour.
He says Huntsman is at work on “several bespoke commissions” for the coronation, with clients asking for morning wear.
“Although this ceremony might be considered pared back, there’s no denying the delight people find in the pageantry and protocol of this type of event. While a more relaxed dress code might be passable, I believe sartorially savvy civilian gentlemen in attendance will still favor morning dress as de rigueur, just as in 1953,” Carey says.
That look calls for “a black tailcoat, striped trousers, a waistcoat, a white wing-collared shirt, and a tie or cravat, and a top hat,” Carey says.
This is an event for the history books; guests should dress in preparation to be immortalized in images and film around the world,” he adds.
Bethan Holt, author of “The Queen: 70 Years of Majestic Style” and “The Duchess of Cambridge: A Decade of Modern Royal Style,” would agree. “If you look back at the history of coronations, the fashion is almost more like eveningwear, with spectacular gowns and huge numbers of really precious jewels.” The coronation, she adds, “is going to really surprise us on a fashion level.”
Despite the cost of living crisis in the U.K., Holt says the event will have been carefully considered and curated from an image point of view. She also believes it’s the “job of the royals to put on a good show, and to give people something to feel optimistic about.”
Holt suspects the Princess of Wales in particular will want to make a statement and that it’s likely she’ll work with Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton, who designed her wedding gown more than a decade ago.
“The coronation gown is really important. It’s got to look perfect from all angles and be laced with meaning, which is something that Burton did incredibly well with her wedding dress,” Holt says. “I’d be surprised if [Catherine] didn’t go for McQueen. If she doesn’t, it will undoubtedly be a British brand, so maybe Jenny Packham or Erdem.”
Holt adds that, sartorially, the Prince and Princess of Wales have been “stepping up a level. If you look back at their trajectory as a couple, for a very long time they were seen as very relatable, very down to earth and quite casual. I think what we’ve seen a little bit more of in recent months is them looking much more serious,” like they mean business, she adds.
“We’ve seen some really spectacular outfits from Catherine, especially the Erdem skirt suit that she wore recently. That was a huge departure for her, she looked incredibly sophisticated and like someone who wasn’t afraid to stand out and really step up to her role. Whereas in the past, she’s wanted to blend into the background a bit more. Now she’s really ready to have a [prominent], crucial role in the royal family.”
This is one “girl” who’s ready for her moment in the Abbey, in the Coronation Procession and on the world stage.
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