This stunning costume is a reproduction of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation gown, which was designed by Norman Hartnell in 1952/1953. Though Hartnell went through several designs, the final version featured gold, silver, and pearl embroidered flowers representing each of the countries and territories of the Commonwealth. There were Tudor Roses for England, Scottish Thistles, Irish Shamrocks, Canadian Maple Leaves, Silver Ferns of New Zealand, Australian Wattle Flowers, South African Protea, Lotus Flowers of India, Lotus Flowers of Ceylon, as well as wheat, oats, and fronds to represent Pakistan.
In 2012, for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, the London department store Harrods hired Angels Costumier to re-create the gown for a window display. When Recycled Movie Costumes interviewed Jeremy with Angels Costumier a few months ago, we asked him what was his favorite costume in the collection was. He replied with some additional details about the gown, as well as the fact that we would soon see it again:
One costume that I always love seeing is actually not a famous film costume. It is a recreation of the Queen’s Coronation dress that we made for Harrods. It is just simply stunning. There are over 4000 hand attached beads on this dress. We never thought it would be hired out again, as it was made as close to the original as possible, and we never thought anyone would have the same size and shape as the queen. But a current production has hired it to use as they have the queen’s coronation in their series, and the actress playing the queen fitted into the dress perfectly!
As it turns out, the new production Jeremy was speaking of was the 2016 Netflix series The Crown. The actress in question was Claire Foy, who portrays Queen Elizabeth II.
You can learn more about the real Coronation gown here. If you would also like to read more about the Angels reproduction gown and the work that went into it, it is beautifully documented in the Angels Costumier book Behind the Seams, which you can purchase on their website, or on Amazon.
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