Prince Albert, Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon - 1923


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In 2002 the wedding dresses of the last 5 Queens - regnant and consort - were on display at KP. They were the real ones as far as I know - although Alexandra's had been altered after the wedding for later use.

I loved all of them, except the Queen Mother's but that is probably because the style in the 1920s is such a horrid style anyway.
 
Before the wedding, Queen Mary presented Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon with a piece of antique lace in the same room at Buckingham Palace where Queen Victoria had given Mary a present before Mary wed the Duke of York (the future George V).

The veil that Lady Elizabeth wore was a point de Flandres lace veil.
In Royal Romance, it was written:

At the last moment Lady Elizabeth forgot her gloves and long afterwards fashionable brides dispensed with them in imitation.
On January 16, 1923 the Dundee Advertiser in Scotland declared:

Rumour, which does not always lie, has prepared the public to hear that a very charming romance was maturing which would link the Royal House with the ancient and historical family of romantic Glamis. It is just the kind of wedding which the British public would like --- a wedding of free choice yet in every way charmingly right.

Prince Albert was the first royal groom to wed in the dress uniform of the newest branch of the armed services, the Royal Air Force.
 
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Now this is a tough cookie to crack! Elizabeth never was pretty enough, but my, did she know how to carry herself!
The bridal gown with the low waistline would not flatter anyone. It has been getting negative reviews since day one.
 
Saw this dress on display at KP a few years ago and was surprised by how much nicer it looks in real life and you can see the amount of work on the beading etc. The 1920s era might not be a favourite of mine in regards to the fashion but i now appreciate this wedding dress more after seeing it in the real


I've always wondered that about this particular dress. If it would look far better when seeing it in front of me and sounds like it would.

Face it, sad as it is, that was the style of that era and I honestly think it was the best that could be made of a horrible phase in Fashion. Making it worse was it being the Royal Wedding Gown of the first Bride marrying a son of George V and Queen Mary's. Reason I say that is look at the next two Brides. Both Princess Marina and Lady Alice looked stunning, but by that time the style of that era had started to change and streamline a bit thankfully for them, as the elaborate embroidery on the then Lady Elizabeth's Gown just wasn't the in thing anymore.

As much as I adore both doing and admiring gorgeous Embroidery I've always thought, and this based solely on my limited viewings of it from pictures and newsreel footage, the Embroidery goes down the bodice too far. Which in turn hampers just how much of a skirt can be formed from it, even w/how shapeless the style was then, and you throw in the then Lady Elizabeth's body shape and size.... Even if it had only been a few inches difference, she really needed them to help give the illusion of a waist or even added height.

I've always thought of this dress as "Great intentions, but didn't really come off as hoped.". I've seen the actual sketch in a few things that were put out for The Queen Mum's 100th Birthday & it's sadly in the same category as Crown Princess Mary's. Meaning the sketch was far more beautiful than the actual dress. A shame too, as there was great potential w/it, but just didn't happen.

Now in this picture up there, is that her actual Wedding Bouquet? If so, then it's the first of that day I've ever seen of it in the picture. Remember due to a Vicar fainting and holding up the Bride's Procession going down the Aisle, the then Lady Elizabeth walked over to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and placed her Wedding Bouquet on it. Beginning a Tradition that lives on today w/every Royal Bride's Bouquet being placed there after the Wedding & Photographs are all over and done w/.

I have an idea of how it was supposed to look, thanks to the British Royal Weddings documentary (highly recommend), where a florist made a copy off of the photographs of it and the other Bouquet designs that were used by the future Duchess of York to choose from. It really was lovely, w/Heather for Scotland and White Roses for the Rose of York.

It's just a pity the dress didn't match up to the bouquet.


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I was doing a search for something else and came across this picture of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in her wedding dress - it shows the scale of the dress and I think it's very beautiful:

https://yooniqimages.blob.core.wind...-b9f9-9a6901a0177e/YooniqImages_102258741.jpg

The dress and head wear looks like it was inspired by the 1921 movie The Sheik.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/The_Sheik_(1921)_-_Valentino_&_Ayres.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/The_Sheik_(1921)_-_Valentino_%
 
Of course female clothing in the early 1920's was considerably more shapeless/baggy than later in the decade. I have seen photos of Elizabeth wearing a Chinese pyjama leisure outfit when she was on her honeymoon in the East and while she was no stick figure she was certainly not plump at that time either.

The headdresses of the time were pretty ghastly IMO, and influenced the cloche hats of a few years later. All those evening tiara-like pieces resting on the brow, sometimes with jewelled lappets. Bridal headdresses of post WW1 always remind me of bathing caps with a frill.
 
I wonder if there were will be any commemoration of the events to mark its 100th anniversary next year?
 
I wonder if there were will be any commemoration of the events to mark its 100th anniversary next year?

An exhibit including the Strathmore Rose Tiara would be an ideal celebration. :rose2::rose2::rose2::rose2::rose2::rose2:
 
I doubt there would be a celebration of the Albert/Elizabeth union. It’s one of those anniversaries that has faded into history now, though no doubt it was noted each year during the reign of George VI. As for the Strathmore Rose tiara, has anyone even seen it for decades? I’ve got a strong suspicion that it may have been broken up to make other pieces years ago.
 
I doubt there would be a celebration of the Albert/Elizabeth union. It’s one of those anniversaries that has faded into history now, though no doubt it was noted each year during the reign of George VI. As for the Strathmore Rose tiara, has anyone even seen it for decades? I’ve got a strong suspicion that it may have been broken up to make other pieces years ago.

As for the Strathmore Rose tiara... The Court Jeweller reported on 4-08-2021, "our most recent glimpse of the tiara came in 2012, when it was photographed for The Queen’s Diamonds". https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2021/04/her-majestys-hidden-tiaras.html
https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/publications/the-queens-diamonds
 
Today is the one hundredth anniversary of the Royal Wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
 
Did King Manuel II of Portugal and his wife, Augusta Victoria, attend this wedding?
 
Did King Manuel II of Portugal and his wife, Augusta Victoria, attend this wedding?

I don't recall seeing any Portuguese on the guest list ,however there was a large Spanish presence.
King Alfonso XIII
Queen Ena
Don Alfonso,Prince of Asturias
The Infantes Don Juan,Don Jaime,Don Gonzalo
The Infantas Beatriz and Maria Cristina
 
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