Hello God!
Thank You for my daughter’s passion about princesses. Every her doll is a princess. As you know a princess dreams to become the Queen one day. The heart of coronation in her dream day is Perfect Dress, of course!
Since the age of just 26, Elizabeth II has been the Queen. Her coronation on June 2, 1953 was an unprecedented spectacle of pomp and pageantry and the Coronation Dress is the most important and perfect dress for 20th century.
The Coronation Gown was created by the British couturier Norman Hartnell. I think the gown is the most exquisite couture work ever to be done. I am dazzled by the light and genius of this Masterpiece.
On her way to Westminster Abbey, the Queen wore these fantastic pieces of jewellery, made in diamonds and pearls, the Diamond Diadem made for George IV, Queen Victoria’s collet diamond necklace and diamond drop earrings.
The jewels speak for themselves.
Norman Hartnell had previously made Her Majesty’s wedding dress for her marriage to Prince Philip. By the way he became the first couturier to be knighted.
The gown had a sweetheart neckline and full skirt and was embroidered with some 10,000 seed-pearls and many thousands of beads. It was trailed by a 15 foot star-patterned train.
Made of English silk, the dress was so heavy that three layers of horsehair were used, so as to lighten it enough that the Queen could move freely through the complicated manoeuvres in Westminster Abbey.
Eight months in the making, the Queen is reported to have declared it “glorious” the first time she saw it and wore it six more times after coronation day, including at the opening of parliaments in New Zealand and Australia in 1954 and Canada in 1957.
The decoration on the robe comprises a border of wheat ears and olive branches, symbolizing peace and plenty.
Intricate embroidery featured floral details to represent each country ruled by Elizabeth II: the English Tudor rose, the Welsh Leek, the Scots thistle, the Australian wattle, the New Zealand fern, protea for South Africa, two lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, wheat, cotton and jute for Pakistan.
The motifs on the dress were embroidered in pastel-coloured silks, pearls, diamonds, pale amethysts, golden crystals, gold and silver bullion and sequins to create a shimmering effect. There was one emblem not included in the embroidery sample that was included in the dress: ‘unknown to the Royal wearer there was one extra little four-leaved shamrock for luck.’ Hartnell secretly later added an embroidered extra four-leaved Shamrock on the left side of her dress as an omen for good fortune.
It was embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework, who worked for a total of 3,500 hours between March and May 1953. Every detail was done by hand.
Queen Elizabeth II in Coronation Robes.1953,by Sir Herbert James Gunn
Wearing her coronation dress and the purple Robe of Estate, The Queen stands in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace.
The coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II,by Edith Grace Wheatley
Its jewels glow, virtues; loyalty’s ruby,
blood-deep; sapphire’s ice resilience; emerald evergreen;
the shy pearl, humility. My whole life, whether it be long
or short, devoted to your service. Not lightly worn.
Carol Ann Duffy
Thank you for sharing with me this beautiful moment. Lift up your head, Princess, not to miss your Coronation Day in the Perfect Dress of Success or Love or something you dream about! Perhaps the Day is today.
Glorialana Magazine 