Our look at the fashion and jewels of the late Queen Elizabeth II over the decades brings us today to 1955, when she wore her grandmother’s tiara and a sweeping ballgown for an historic dinner at Downing Street.
Queen Elizabeth II stepped down from her car on her arrival at No. 10 Downing Street on the evening of April 4, 1955, and reached for her Prime Minister’s outstretched hand. Eighty-year-old Sir Winston Churchill, who had been a Member of Parliament for half a century and served as Prime Minister to both the Queen and her late father, was in the final hours of his premiership. But recurring health problems, including a stroke in 1953, had led him to finally accept the need to step down.
Churchill’s last day in office was April 5, but on the night before, he and Lady Churchill hosted a special dinner at Downing Street. The final hurrah was attended by numerous colleagues, allies, and friends, including his successor, Anthony Eden. And, adding a truly regal touch to the moment, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh accepted the invitation to dine that evening as well.
The monarch greeted the prime minister in a ballgown made of tulle embellished with sparkling silver beads. She wore the sash and star of the Order of the Garter and a warm fur stole. Her handbag appears to have been made out of a silver metallic fabric, echoing the decorations on the dress.
Elizabeth accessorized with special pieces of jewelry. She wore the Lover’s Knot Tiara, commissioned by Queen Mary from Garrard in 1913 as a copy of the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara that belonged to her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Elizabeth matched the tiara’s pearl drops to her earrings, wearing elegant pear-shaped pearl pendants from the crown collection.
The Queen’s necklace was also an Heirloom of the Crown. Her father, King George VI, had commissioned the classic diamond festoon necklace five years earlier, using loose diamonds that had been added to the crown collection by his mother, Queen Mary.
Elizabeth finished off the jewelry look with a special bracelet: the Edinburgh Wedding Bracelet, a gift from her husband to celebrate their wedding in 1947. The diamonds used to make the bracelet were taken from a tiara that belonged to his mother, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark. She’d received the tiara as a gift from her Russian imperial relatives, Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
A quick scheduling reminder: Because I’m currently traveling, there will be no Wednesday Substack newsletter this week. See you here tomorrow at our usual time for more sparkle!
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