Queen Elizabeth, an icon of style: an exhibition dedicated to her was inaugurated on 9 April at Buckingham Palace and will be open to the public from 10 April to 18 October , in the first important moment dedicated to the celebrations for the centenary of the sovereign's birth, which falls on 21 April .
An unprecedented event, entitled "Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style", which brings together a vast collection of around 300 items, including iconic dresses, handbags and hats immortalised in many images, as well as jewellery and shoes, worn by The Queen on official occasions as well as in private .
Among the pieces exhibited for the first time in the King's Gallery are two peach-colored dresses designed by Angela Kelly for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony : one worn by the Queen in the sequence broadcast during the event, in which she appeared alongside actor Daniel Craig as James Bond, and the other by the Queen's stunt double who parachuted into the Olympic stadium. Also on display is a long green and white Norman Hartnell dress worn by Elizabeth II to a banquet during her state visit to Pakistan in 1961, a tribute to the flag of the former British Empire territory.
"She knew exactly how she wanted to look," said exhibition curator Caroline de Guitaut. During her record-breaking reign, which ended with her death on September 8, 2022, at the age of 96, Elizabeth directly influenced fashion with her highly original outfits, starting with her pastel-colored dresses. She was capable of setting trends even at a very advanced age: at 85, with some rectangular leather handbags that sold like hotcakes and were picked up by glossy magazines. At once traditional and youthful, Lilibet, as her loved ones called her, embodied an unprecedented mix in the imagination, always keeping pace with the times. Not only at major events but also in everyday life, such as her riding jackets, tartan skirts, and scarves, as is evident in the exhibition that traces the sovereign's life, starting from her childhood in the 1930s. The centenary celebrations also include ambitious plans for a statue, a bridge, and new gardens dedicated to Elizabeth, testifying to a memory that lives on among many subjects and admirers of the Royal Family around the world.
(Unioneonline/D)
