In 1947, Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten in a post-war glimmer of hope for the British public, as their future Queen walked down the aisle in a champagne silk wedding gown. The bridal gown was designed by Norman Hartnell, the go-to designer of the mid-20th century, and featured a dramatic train, tulle veil, and matching silk satin shoes. While Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s marriage endured for all time, it seems her historic wedding gown may not. The Royal Collection Trust’s textile conservator Cecilia Oliver reveals exclusively to Marie Claire that the 79-year-old dress is “breaking down at an epic rate.”
In the words of the great poet Taylor Swift, even statues crumble if they’re made to wait. The delicate silk satin has been cared for with the greatest diligence over the years, but the gown is showing significant signs of age. “If I do my job right, I can’t stop it but I can slow it,” Oliver says of the breakdown process of these historic garments. While the late Queen’s wedding gown shows signs of decay, Oliver and the Royal Collection Trust team are using the most advanced preservation techniques to “try to slow that down as much as possible.”
