FACT SHEET
24 January 2013
The Queen’s Coronation 1953 Coronation outfits of Prince Charles and Princess Anne
The clothes worn by Prince Charles and Princess Anne on Coronation Day were supplied by the children’s outfitter Miss Hodgson, of 33 Sloane Street, London, who was a regular supplier to the Royal Family at the time.
The four-year-old Prince’s outfit consisted of a cream silk shirt with a lace jabot and lace- trimmed cuffs, and cream woollen trousers. He wore black patent shoes with buckles. The Prince, who was known as The Duke of Cornwall in 1953, also wore his Coronation Medal. Princess Anne, who was two, wore a dress of cream silk and lace with a silk sash and silk-covered buttons, with matching cream, silk ballet pumps. The Princess did not attend the Coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, as she was considered too young.
The children’s elegant, yet relatively informal outfits were a marked contrast to those worn by The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, and Princess Margaret, for the coronation of their father, King George VI, on 11 May 1937. On that occasion, the children, who were slightly older (aged 11 and six respectively), wore long dresses, robes and coronets – as was the conventional dress for adults of their rank for a coronation.
The display of the children’s outfits will be supplemented by film footage and photographs taken at Buckingham Palace, famously recording the children waving off The Queen as she departed for Westminster Abbey. Prince Charles later left the Palace in his own carriage, accompanied by his nanny. During the taking of the official portraits at Buckingham Palace by Cecil Beaton, the children were captured in several portraits with their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
Prince Charles’s personal invitation to the Coronation, which measures 32.9cm x 37.9cm, will also go on display. It was designed by the illustrator Joan Hassall, OBE (1906-88), daughter of the great illustrator John Hassall. The invitation is decorated with soldiers, a lion and a unicorn in pencil, watercolour, gold paint and black ink.
Exhibition curator Caroline de Guitaut said, ‘The 60th anniversary of Her Majesty’s Coronation provides a marvellous occasion to exhibit these charming clothes alongside the grand dresses and robes of the Royal Family. The children’s outfits help to remind us of The Queen as Sovereign and, at the same time, a mother of two young children.’
The Queen’s Coronation 1953 is part of a visit to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, 27 July ––– 29 September 2013. Advance tickets and visitor infinformation:ormation: www.royalcollection.org.uk or +44 (0)20 7766 7300.
For further information and photographs, please contact the Royal Collection Trust Press Office, +44 (0)20 7839 1377, press@[email protected]. A selection of images is also available from www.picselect.com.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, press@[email protected] , www.royalcollection.org.uk