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- Every once in a while, the public gets insight into the royal family's history.
- This is done through exhibitions that showcase items that have survived until the present time.
- The earliest surviving British royal wedding dress will be displayed at Buckingham Palace.
Royal wedding items are always kept sacred somewhere safe; decades or even centuries later, they get displayed for the public to see. Other items get auctioned to royal enthusiasts, like Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding cake slice that got auctioned last year.
Now, the earliest surviving British royal wedding dress is going to be on display in a new exhibition alongside 200 works from the royal collection from the Georgian period.
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The wedding dress that belonged to King George IV's daughter and heir, Princess Charlotte of Wales, will be displayed at The Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace. The royal dress is rare because it is the only one that survived the Georgian period. However, it is not in its original form, as the silver silk embroidered wedding gown has been altered to keep up with the Georgian practice of repurposing and recycling clothing.
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Princess Charlotte married Prince Leopold in 1816 while King George III, her grandfather, was still on the throne. Her wedding was considered the most important royal wedding of the era.
"It's fascinating what we can learn about a period through a fashion history lens," curator of Style & Society Anna Reynold told the Royal Collection Trust. The exhibition is on show now and will feature the wedding dress and other royal historical items such as art, clothing, jewellery and accessories ranging from the practical dress of laundry maids to glittering court gowns.
READ MORE | Queen Elizabeth used coupons to buy her wedding dress with 10 000 pearls and 24K gold thread
The public will also get a chance to explore the hair, cosmetics and grooming tools women and men used during that period and a surprising service which cost more £20 000 (R448 086), a silver-gilt travelling toilet service. The jewellery displayed includes diamond rings given to Princess Charlotte on her wedding day and a bracelet with nine lockets, six of which contained locks of hair.
Sources: BBC News, Royal Collection Trust, Tatler
