The Crown in Cloth: Queen Elizabeth II’s Wardrobe Revisited

Few twentieth-century wardrobes were as publicly visible, yet as little understood, as that of Queen Elizabeth II. Across seven decades of public life her clothes became part of the visual language of monarchy: bright coats in crowded public squares, ceremonial gowns beneath the glare of state occasions, and silk headscarves tied neatly beneath the chin on country walks. Yet the processes behind these garments—the design conversations, the skilled makers, the symbolic choices of colour and fabric—have largely remained behind palace doors. A new publication from Royal Collection Trust, Queen Elizabeth II: Fashion and Style, opening the late monarch’s fashion archive as never before, invites readers into this hidden world.

The Queen’s Coronation Dress, Norman Hartnell, 1953.

Published on 26 March 2026 to mark the centenary of Elizabeth II’s birth, the book accompanies the exhibition Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Written by Caroline de Guitaut, Surveyor of The King’s Works of Art, the volume represents the most comprehensive study yet of a royal wardrobe that spans more than seventy years. Drawing on extensive research and illustrated with more than 400 images that include sketches, fabric swatches and archival photographs, it reveals the scale and complexity of an archive comprising around 4,000 garments, the largest surviving dress collection of any British queen or consort...

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Image Credits:

Lead: Evening gowns, Norman Hartnell, 1958. © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2026 | Royal Collection Trust. Photographer: Paul Bulley.

All further images as credited in photo captions.