"We were delighted to host HM The Queen at an event at The Dorchester on the evening of the announcement of her engagement to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten on July 10th 1947 [pictured above]," says Chris Astbury, in-house historian at The Dorchester Hotel on London's Park Lane. "He then chose to hold his stag night with us at The Dorchester in the Park Suite the night before the wedding."
"Between 1946 and 1948 after the war, The Dorchester hosted on average, one charity ball a week. A member of the British royal family would be a guest at many of these and it was at one of these events where Princess Elizabeth attended her first charity ball dance.
"The Dorchester celebrated the coronation of Her Majesty The Queen in 1953 by inviting leading British theatre, set and costume designer Oliver Messel to decorate the hotel façade. The decorations were said to be the best in London.
"During her 70-year reign we have welcomed Her Majesty on some 16 occasions to the hotel, often to the ballroom as the guest of visiting Heads of State."
In her accession photographs, shot in 1952 by Dorothy Wilding, HM Queen Elizabeth II is pictured with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara upon her head – an item that you might recognise because Her Majesty is seen wearing it on the front of every Bank of England banknote.
Originally the property of Queen Mary, Duchess of York, Princess of Wales and finally Queen Consort of King George V, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara was crafted by Garrard in 1893 to be given as a wedding present from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland committee – above is the Garrard leger noting the commission. Designed to be transformable, allowing it to be worn as either a necklace or coronet, over the years Queen Mary requested that Garrard add diamonds, remove pearls and separate the bandeau from the base so that she could wear it as a headband.
In 1947, Queen Mary gave the tiara to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding present and in 1969 the Queen asked for the bandeau and tiara to be reunited, as it remains today.
One of Queen Elizabeth II’s most frequently worn jewels, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is an ongoing source of inspiration for Garrard’s designers, with the repeated pattern of diamonds encircling the base reflected in the round and geometric Windsor motif, which is a signature of the Albemarle and Fanfare jewellery collections.
Information supplied by Sara Prentice, Creative Director, Garrard. garrard.com
"Princess Elizabeth made her last public appearance as a single woman at The Savoy, when she attended a charity ball here just a few days before her wedding in November 1947," says Susan Scott, Archivist for The Savoy. "Then, as a newly-married couple, Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth made their first public appearance together at The Savoy in April 1948 at a dinner hosted by the Pilgrims of Great Britain to mark the unveiling of a statue of US President Franklin Roosevelt outside the American Embassy by his widow, Eleanor [pictured above].
"This is a copy of The Savoy’s Coronation Ball menu from 1953, which is physically somewhat long (longer than A3), and was presented to the hundreds of guests as a scroll, tied with red ribbon, at the event [pictured above, left]. The Coronation Ball occupied every public room in the hotel with the two main areas being the Thames Foyer/Beaufort Bar area, as we know it today, and the Lancaster Ballroom. The guests included dignitaries and royalty from all over the world, who had also been attendees at the Coronation, many of whom arrived at the Ball in their Coronation outfits.
"Finally, here is nice shot of a lady in front of the infamous white velvet curtains made for the occasion which led to the Ballroom [pictured above, right]. These are supposed to have been designed by Cecil Beaton – his name pops up in the archived paperwork from this event – and it took three women three days to sew the little black felt 'tails' to the velvet to give the impression of a wall of ermine. There was music and cabaret, with the headliners being Savoy stalwart Noël Coward in a double act with Maurice Chevalier."
Wedgwood shares a rich history with the world’s Royal families, beginning with Queen Charlotte in the mid-1700s who ordered Wedgwood creamware, which coined the phrase ‘Queensware’. Fast forward to 1995 and Wedgwood was granted the Royal Warrant from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1955, HM Queen Elizabeth and HRH Duke of Edinburgh visited the Wedgwood factory in Barlaston, where she watched the company's master crafters working on Jasperware (one of the finishes created by the company's founder Josiah Wedgwood that made Wedgwood world famous) as well as ceramics being hand-decorated by the team of in-house artists. Above left, you can see the Queen admiring a dinner service decorated with the now-discontinued Appledore pattern - a set of which was gifted to Her Majesty after her visit.
Above right is an image of the black and white Jasperware Commemorative Vase, made in celebration of this visit. The message inside reads: "With loyal greetings from the workpeople of Wedgwood, Barlaston, November 2nd 1955".
Claridge's has a long history of hosting royalty, so much so that it has been referred to as the "Annexe of Buckingham Palace". Her Majesty The Queen has often frequented the Mayfair institution from visiting fashion shows in the 1950s to hosting a private family dinner to celebrate her 60th birthday. It is the place The Queen has chosen to celebrate many important personal and public moments throughout her reign. Most poignantly The Queen chose to celebrate her ruby wedding anniversary with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at Claridge’s.
Back in 1953, the hotel celebrated Her Majesty's Coronation with the introduction of a series of specially-crafted cocktails, which were offered to guests throughout the year. Pictured here is one of the cocktail menu cards that were places in The Foyer and Reading Room areas of the hotel. And, with great thanks to Claridge's in-house Archivist, Kate Hudson, we also have the recipe for the Windsor Rose (mentioned on the card above) which is making a brief return to Claridge's bar in celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. However, if you would like to toast to the good health of the Queen in the comfort of your own home, here's what you'll need...
Windsor Rose
Ingredients:
45ml Belvedere Heritage
10ml Cointreau
10ml Crème de Cassis
15ml Antica Formula
15ml Cranberry Juice
15ml Lemon Juice
1 Egg White
A couple of drops of rose essential oil
Method:
Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake without ice. Add ice and shake again, then pour into a coupe, garnish with a rose petal and add a couple of drops of rose essential oil.
On 1st March 2012, during her Diamond Jubilee year, HM Queen Elizabeth II visited Fortnum & Mason to celebrate the opening of the famous department store's new Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon (designed by fellow Walpole member David Collins Studio). It was the first time she had attended an event with both the Duchesses of Cornwall and Cambridge. Each of the ladies was presented with a unique hamper – the common denominator being biscuits for their dogs – as well as a multi-tiered cake topped with a crown (that was enjoyed by members of staff at a post-visit celebration).
The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon was opened to the public shortly thereafer, and remains one of the biggest attractions for visitors to Fortnum & Mason today.
Information supplied by Dr Andrea Tanner, Company Archivist, Fortnum & Mason. fortnumandmason.com
"Lock & Co. has long topped the heads of British statesmen, but never the Head of State, until Queen Elizabeth II in 1953," says Ben Dalrymple, Managing Director of Lock & Co. Hatters – the world's oldest hat shop, located at 6 St James's Street, London. "We were honoured and delighted to work with crown jewellers Garrard, to design the fitments for the Coronation crown, worn on 2nd June and viewed by over 20 million people worldwide.
"Made with skill and craftsmanship and full of history, each sacred item within the crown jewels symbolises different aspects of the monarch's power, the promises that they make and the relationship between sovereign and their country.
"Pictured above [left] is a hat block made by Lock & Co. to Queen Elizabeth’s exact head shape specifications, and a scan of Her Majesty wearing the crown at her Coronation on the cover of the Daily Telegraph's Coronation Picture Supplement from 1953 [pictured right]."
