Yesterday, we had to pleasure to be invited to attend the press preview of the highly anticipated ‘Edwardians: Age of Elegance’ Exhibition at the King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, which opens today!
Explore the opulence and glamour of the Edwardian age through the lives and tastes of two of Britain’s most fashionable royal couples – King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George V and Queen Mary – from their family lives and personal collecting to their glittering social circles and spectacular royal events.
More than 300 objects from the Royal Collection will be on display – almost half for the first time – including works by the most renowned contemporary artists of the period, including Carl Fabergé, Frederic Leighton, Edward Burne-Jones, Rosa Bonheur, John Singer Sargent and William Morris. The exhibition covers the period from Edward and Alexandra’s wedding in 1863 up to the end of the First World War.
For us, the highlights of the exhibition are the magnificent Jewels from Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary on display alongside Fabergé Objects and Paintings by Winterhalter and Tuxen, which include Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara and the Delhi Durbar Tiara.
Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara was a gift to Queen Alexandra from 365 ‘Ladies of Society’ for her Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1888. It was last seen on Queen Camilla in December 2024.
Queen Alexandra received this striking Pearl and Diamond Necklace and Earrings created by Garrard as a wedding gift from the Prince of Wales in 1863. The Necklace was last worn by the Princess of Wales in 2018.
Another jewel that Queen Alexandra received as a Wedding Gift in 1863 was the Dagmar Necklace, from King Frederik VII of Denmark, which contains a fragment of wood said to be from the True Cross and a scrap of silk from the grave of King Canute. The necklace was last worn by the late Queen in the 1950s.
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara was a Wedding Gift to Queen Mary from the ‘Girls of Great Britain and Ireland’ in 1893, which was a lifelong favouite of the late Queen and most recently worn by Queen Camilla in 2023.
Queen Mary’s Love Trophy Collar was commissioned by Queen Mary around 1901 and hasn’t been publicly seen in over a century, making this one of the highlights of the exhibit.
Queen Mary’s Diamond Stomacher is also on display, which was a wedding gift to the late Queen in 1947 but only worn once in full form, for her Golden Jubilee Dinner at Windsor Castle in 2002.
Alongside the ‘Woman of Hampshire’ Brooch given to Queen Mary in 1893, also displayed is the scrolled Emerald and Diamond Brooch from the Delhi Durbar Parure was created by Queen Mary in 1911 using Emeralds won by her grandmother, Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge, at a charity auction. The Brooch was favourite of the late Queen with the Vladimir Tiara but hasn’t been publicly worn in over a decade.
Another highlight of the exhibition is the Delhi Durbar Tiara commissioned by Queen Mary for the the Delhi Durbar in 1911. It was last worn by Queen Camilla in 2005, and hasn’t been exhibited for over a decade.
Among the Fabergé animals and others objet d’art is the Fabergé Cigarette Case given to King Edward VII by his favourite mistress, Mrs George Keppel, in 1908.
The case represents one of Fabergé’s greatest expressions of the Art Nouveau style, with its sinuous diamond-set snake entwined around the front and back of the box.
There is also the Coronation Gown of Queen Alexandra on display for the first time in over 30 years, as well as the gown she wore for the Waverley Ball in London in 1871.
Traditionally, a coronation dress would be a plain white or cream gown, inspired by ecclesiastical robes. However, Alexandra was a fashion trailblazer, known around the world for her style. She chose a dramatic gold dress designed by the female-led Parisian fashion house Morin Blossier, sewn with thousands of tiny gold spangles designed to sparkle in the electric lights that had been installed in Westminster Abbey for the first time in honour of the occasion.
At Alexandra’s suggestion, the coronation dress became the first royal outfit to include the national emblems of Britain (rose, thistle and shamrock), a tradition continued on every subsequent coronation dress, including those of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Camilla. Forty needle-workers in Delhi spent five months embroidering the gown’s gold net, before it was sent to Paris to be laid over cloth of gold and made into the final gown. The rarely displayed dress is very fragile, and conservators have spent more than 100 hours preparing it for display.
There are several spectacular portraits by Winterhalter and Tuxen among other notable portrait painters, which depict the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and the Coronation of King George V in 1911 alongside Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and the Wedding of the Duke of York and Princess May of Teck in 1893.
Thank You to the Royal Collection for inviting us to preview this special exhibit and another Thank You to Associate Editor Samantha Gillespie for going to cover the exhibit and her lovely pictures!
© The Royal Watcher | Saad Salman and Samantha Gillespie
