All British Queens

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Category: Victoria

  • From A King To A Queen: The State Diadem Crown

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    State Diadem Crown

    You may have seen this beautiful, and exquisite crown before worn by Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II, or photos and time reels of Queen Victoria. This crown was created with passion, beauty, and the desire to have a glamorous lifestyle. With looks of this fabulous crown, it also signifies its duty and service to the state provinces of England, Ireland and Scotland. However, the question remains: How did it go from a King’s head to a Queen? We’ll get into the breakdown of this spectacle of a crown and its creation, but first, we have to take a look into the eyes of its creator.

    “The First Gentleman Of England”

    King George IV (the oldest Uncle of Queen Victoria), became Prince Regnant in 1811 due to his father, King George III being in the state of insanity, then officially began his reign from 1820 after his father died, until 1830. During this time as King, George IV fancied the lifestyle of lavish things: fine jewelry, furniture, paintings, and of course, the State Diadem Crown. With the palace already in trouble with debt from the past interior designs and exterior expenses from the regnant at the time, King George IV had made way to wear this crown on his Coronation day.

    In 1820 the King, wanted the crown a representation England, Ireland, and Scotland in preparation of his coronation in 1821. With that being said are the 3 flowers representing each country; Roses (England), Thistles (Scotland), and Shamrocks (Ireland). Along with pearls surrounding the crown, Christian cross patte’e in between the 3 flowers, 1,333 diamonds, along with a gold and silver frame. This request of such a crown was given to the Royal jewellers Rundell & Bridge, and Rundell; of the cost of 8,216 Euros, which included 800 Euros for the diamonds (keep in mind the debt it was costing the Monarchy). Since they were jewellers respectively to the crown, and the diamonds were leased, Rundell & Bridge, and Rundell decided to sell the diamonds to the royal family, keeping the diamonds on the State Diadem Crown.

    From A King, To A Queen

    Knowing how the King was with his flashy and proud personality, how exactly did this crown go from a King’s head to a Queen?

    Once the King died in 1830, the crown was passed over to his sister-in-law, Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV (whom is not flashy at all); taking in the theory that the King has died, with his daughter Princess Charlotte who died in 1817, his wife, Queen Caroline of Brunswick, has since passed in 1821, and his father George III, who died in a year earlier in 1820. Queen Adelaide wore this crown until the death of her husband in 1837, making the new heir, Queen Victoria the next Queen of the Monarchy to wear the Crown.

    Victoria loved this crown and wore it to many events like christenings for her children, stamps and portraits. She loved it so much that she declared the crown as an Heirloom so it will pass down from Queen to Queen.

    Queen Alexandria Of Denmark

    Modern Tradition

    Four Queens later after Queen Adelaide: Victoria, Alexandra of Denmark, Queen Mary of Teck, and today, the current Queen Elizabeth II. She has worn this crown for her coronation in 1953, in which where the crown was first worn by King George IV, keeping the traditional style of the coronation ceremony, along with the State Opening of Parliment. This crown is also set in the Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace when not in use for fans all over the world to view and imagine that gorgeous crown on their own heads.

    Since 1952, Queen Elizabeth II has worn the State Diadem Crown all but 2 times throughout her reign The only times she has not worn the crown was in 1959 when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew, and 1963 when she was also pregnant with Prince Edward. She is the only Queen and sovereign who has worn this crown the longest in British Royal History.

    Even though King George IV was smitten, he took to lengths to remove the Imperial State Crown with the State Diadem Crown. Parliament wasted no time in saying no since it was a part of the history of the monarchy (Crown and Parliament Recognition Act of 1689), also meant to be worn at the closing of coronations, and State Openings of Parliament. 

    I find the State Diadem Crown to be a beauty in its own right with meaning and a proud representation of England, Ireland, and Scotland. King George IV may have been a little flamboyant, but he remembered how much this crown meant to not only himself, but to the Monarchy.

  • Yes to the Dress: Queen Victoria’s Dress On Her Wedding Day

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    On this day, February 10, of 1840 the Royal Marriage has been arranged for Queen Victoria Of England, and the love of her life Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. “We must imagine that her personal happiness must have been so great in anticipation, that she had little time to describe what she wore. We know that she awoke in Buckingham Palace on the morning of 10 February 1840. A watercolour by the artist James Roberts gives us a glimpse of the room, some eight years later. She got up at ¼ to 9 and breakfasted three-quarters of an hour later. The Queen seems to have been more interested in writing a note to her bridegroom, which she wrote as cold rain splashed against the windowpanes. It is tempting to suspect that the Queen was simply impatient and anxious to get to St James’s Palace, to be married to Prince Albert, with whom she was so passionately in love.” –The Royal Central. Although it was a delightful view of their moment of marriage, the preparations and the choice of dress might have been a little bit interesting during that time.

    The designer of the lace was a man named William Dyce from The Royal College of Art, and the maker of the dress was Mary Bettans in Spitalfields (you know, the place where she decided to have her dresses made there for her ball? That place). Together they created a beautiful silk satin white lace and dress for the ages.

    According to the Fashion History TImeline, this dress was “structured, eight-piece bodice features a wide, open neckline. The off-the-shoulder sleeves are short and puffed. The pointed waistline is deep v-shaped, resembling the basque shape. Both the neckline and sleeves were trimmed with lace. The floor-length skirt was very full, containing seven widths of fabric in forward-facing pleats.”

    Royal Collection Trust

    This dress was also in the color of white. Normally, a royal wedding dress would consist of robes, jewels, and a crown just to name a few things, and the color white (and black) represented the colors of mourning. But Victoria chose white to match the lace of her dress. She also suggested that only her and her bridesmaides wear white dresses as well.

    Royal Collection Trust

    Ever since the beautiful wedding, Queen Victoria has created a trend of white dresses along with the bridesmaids! Interesting right!? It wasn’t until the modern age of 1950s that dresses counted as a symbol of purity, virginity, and innocence. Today, in days of post-modern era, white is still apart of the beautiful day of marriage, but other colors are now the say so of the bride. I have seen a peacock wedding with those amazing blue and green colors, as well as purple, pink, and even black! The Victorian Era brought out the boldness of fashion, uniquieness, and individualism.

    References:

    1840 – Queen Victoria’s Wedding Dress

  • Victoria

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    (r. 1837-1901)

    Queen Victoria held her reign as Queen of England from at a young age of 18 from 1837 until she was 81 years old in 1901. She was next in the line of succession after her uncle, King William IV, (who lived longer than her father Prince Edward). She was the only child of Prince Edward which gave her next in line to the throne.

    Victoria realized she was going to be queen one day in her adolecent years. However, she was guarded and supervised to the point where she became very liberated when she became queen at the age of 18. She no longer wanted or felt the need for supervision, and wanted to do things her way. Throughout her reign she was loved by her people, and she cared very much of what her peopled wanted and expected of her. She held her reign for 63 years and earned the Diamond Jubilee for holding her reign the longest (before Elizabeth II).