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All The Queen`s Hats For Public Scrutiny
London, May 29: A selection of the Queen`s wardrobe accessories are to be put on display in a unique exhibition at Kensington Palace in London. The exhibition shows some of the key pieces in Queen Elizabeth`s wardrobe worn from childhood to the present day.
London, May 29: A selection of the Queen's wardrobe accessories are to be put on display in a unique exhibition at Kensington Palace in London. The exhibition shows some of the key pieces in Queen Elizabeth's wardrobe worn from childhood to the present day.
'Hats and Handbags: Accessories From The Royal Wardrobe' marks 50 years since the Queen's coronation. The exhibition brings together 100 items of headwear, handbags and gloves, chosen by The Queen and her senior couturiers.
Included in the exhibition are items worn for key dates in Royal history, from the small golden crown worn by the young Princess Elizabeth to her parents' coronation in 1937, to the purple silk hat worn at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Joanna Marschner, Curator, Kensington Palace says, "Her Majesty's style is very difficult to define. The Queen has followed fashion in a gentle way without being slavish. She, in the end, selects clothes to do a job and she does that job superlatively and the Queen and her designers of her dress and of her accessories work together to make sure that that's so."
For many people, hats and handbags are the epitome of The Queen's style. But hats like these have a practical as well as an aesthetic purpose.
Joanna Marschner, Curator, Kensington Palace says, "Both her hats and her handbags have to be practical and The Queen and her designers work very, very hard to make sure that they serve their purpose as part of her working kit. Hats can be of particular colours to suit special occasions, The Queen wears black when she visits the Pope, like everyone else; when she visits countries abroad, you will find that national customs are respected: hats for the Middle East have veils to cover the neck and the shoulders and the arms; hats for China have been embellished with lovely little ornaments, perhaps taken out of Chinese painting and for Hungary, we have a lovely hat which is made after a traditional Hungarian style."
'Hats and Handbags: Accessories from the Royal Wardrobe' will run at Kensington Palace until April 2004.
Bureau Report
Included in the exhibition are items worn for key dates in Royal history, from the small golden crown worn by the young Princess Elizabeth to her parents' coronation in 1937, to the purple silk hat worn at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Joanna Marschner, Curator, Kensington Palace says, "Her Majesty's style is very difficult to define. The Queen has followed fashion in a gentle way without being slavish. She, in the end, selects clothes to do a job and she does that job superlatively and the Queen and her designers of her dress and of her accessories work together to make sure that that's so."
For many people, hats and handbags are the epitome of The Queen's style. But hats like these have a practical as well as an aesthetic purpose.
Joanna Marschner, Curator, Kensington Palace says, "Both her hats and her handbags have to be practical and The Queen and her designers work very, very hard to make sure that they serve their purpose as part of her working kit. Hats can be of particular colours to suit special occasions, The Queen wears black when she visits the Pope, like everyone else; when she visits countries abroad, you will find that national customs are respected: hats for the Middle East have veils to cover the neck and the shoulders and the arms; hats for China have been embellished with lovely little ornaments, perhaps taken out of Chinese painting and for Hungary, we have a lovely hat which is made after a traditional Hungarian style."
'Hats and Handbags: Accessories from the Royal Wardrobe' will run at Kensington Palace until April 2004.
Bureau Report