The Biggest Ever Exhibition Of Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe Will Go On Show At Buckingham Palace
This is, of course, just one aspect of the late monarch’s wardrobe set to be explored in a forthcoming retrospective at The King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace in April 2026. Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style – the largest exhibition of the Queen’s fashion ever staged – will showcase around 200 items, roughly half of which have never been displayed before. The selection spans couture gowns, including an apple-green dress worn to a 1957 state banquet at the British Embassy in Washington, and the blue crinoline-skirted number worn for Princess Margaret’s wedding in 1960, to the headscarves, tweed jackets and tartan skirts of her Balmoral wardrobe. Many pieces will be shown alongside original sketches and fabric swatches, annotated by court dressers and the Queen herself.
And then there are the added works by Christopher Kane, Erdem Moralıoğlu and Richard Quinn – the first recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design – each shown alongside a corresponding garment from the Queen’s archive, as evidence of her influence on contemporary style. All three designers have, in different ways, weighed in on that legacy. Kane’s spring/summer 2011 collection, for example, evoked her image through argyle sweaters draped over shoulders and a drop-waist, laser-cut leather dress that mimicked lace; and Moralıoğlu’s spring/summer 2018 proposal drew on a young Elizabeth’s love of Harlem Renaissance jazz; while Quinn’s autumn/winter 2024 offering reimagined the crystal-embroidered gown she wore to the 1962 premiere of Lawrence of Arabia, as well as the black velvet dress she chose for her 1956 meeting with Marilyn Monroe.
The Royal family at Trooping the Colour, 2016.James Devaney/Getty Images
Each designer will expand on their connection to the Queen’s clothing in an accompanying tome, which includes a tribute from Vogue’s Anna Wintour and an essay from Amy de la Haye, the professor of dress history and curatorship at the London College of Fashion. Together, they present an exploration of Elizabeth II as both a private individual and imperial sovereign and, well, the velvet gloves that concealed the iron fist. Speaking on his own relationship to her style, Kane says: “Queen Elizabeth II’s wardrobe is one of the most significant living archives in modern fashion history. From the decline of the court dressmaker to the rise of couturiers like Hartnell and Hardy Amies, her garments tell the story of Britain and its evolving identity through fashion. For designers and students, it offers a masterclass in silhouette, construction, repetition, symbolism and perhaps most importantly, restraint.”
Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style opens at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, on 10 April 2026.