The largest ever exhibition of Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion is to be staged at Buckingham Palace next year to mark the centenary of the late monarch’s birth.
Some 200 items worn during all ten decades of her life will be on public display, more than half for the first time.
Among the key pieces will be a silver lame and tulle bridesmaid dress by Edward Molyneux worn by the eight-year-old Princess Elizabeth at the wedding of her uncle George, the Duke of Kent to Princess Marina of Greece in 1934.
Her famous wedding and coronation gowns by Norman Hartnell will also feature, along with jewellery, hats, shoes, accessories, design sketches and fabric samples.
The exhibition will show how she used fashion diplomatically, such as the white Hartnell gown designed for a 1961 state banquet in Karachi, which incorporated Pakistan‘s national colours through a emerald-green pleat down the back.
Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style will run from spring to autumn 2026. Tickets will go on sale in November.
Princess Elizabeth of York as a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, November 29, 1934. The dress she wore is one of the items on display at the Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style exhibition
Queen Elizabeth II wearing an Evening Gown, Norman Hartnell, 1956, which is also on display
The then-Princess Elizabeth’s Wedding Dress, Norman Hartnell, 1947
Around 200 items, around half on display for the first time, the exhibition which will run from spring to autumn 2026, will chart the story of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch through clothing
Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh (formerly Lt Philip Mountbatten, RN) as they leave Westminster Abbey after their marriage ceremony
Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Dress is also set to go on display at the exhibition
