0:00:02 > 0:00:05Today few people's wardrobes attract as much attention
0:00:05 > 0:00:07as the British royal family's.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14Hardly a day goes by without some press comment
0:00:14 > 0:00:15on a little royal romper suit,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17or a designer dress,
0:00:17 > 0:00:19or a sneaky high-street purchase.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23And you might think that the world today has gone mad for a peek inside
0:00:23 > 0:00:28the royal wardrobe, but believe me, it's always been like this.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31In this programme, I'm going to open wide
0:00:31 > 0:00:36the doors of the royal wardrobe to uncover its secrets,
0:00:36 > 0:00:41exploring the clothes of kings and queens past and present.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45From Elizabeth I, over 400 years to our current British monarch -
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Queen Elizabeth II.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50I believe that the fascination of royal clothing
0:00:50 > 0:00:53goes beyond its cut or its colour.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58These things are more than clothes, they're symbols or statements.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00And I think that throughout history,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02the royal wardrobe has been important
0:01:02 > 0:01:05in shaping the image of the monarchy,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08for better and sometimes for worse.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22I'm going to start rifling through the royal wardrobes of history
0:01:22 > 0:01:24with Elizabeth I.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28She's a queen who I particularly admire for her skill
0:01:28 > 0:01:33in using clothing to construct an image of power and majesty.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38As a child, Elizabeth spent much of her time
0:01:38 > 0:01:40at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43and it was her favourite residence throughout her life.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47It was here, beneath this oak in Hatfield's grounds,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51that she discovered that she was now Queen, at the age of 25.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55Right from the start of her reign,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Elizabeth had to control her image very carefully.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02She knew that the odds were stacked against her being a successful monarch.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Firstly, she was female - being a king was a man's job -
0:02:06 > 0:02:09and secondly, because her mother had been Anne Boleyn,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12many people believed that she was illegitimate.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Thirdly, she had very big shoes to fill, those of her father,
0:02:16 > 0:02:21Henry VIII, who had every natural and artificial advantage.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23He was a fine figure of a man.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Although when it turned to fat later on,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29he was 54 inches around the waist.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35But here, he's had Holbein make the most of his very splendid costume
0:02:35 > 0:02:39and the eye cannot help but be drawn to this particular garment here,
0:02:39 > 0:02:44the cod piece, which, following Tudor fashion, has become outsized.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Men used them as little purses to carry money in
0:02:47 > 0:02:50or sometimes precious things, like jewels,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54hence the expression, "a man's crown jewels".
0:02:54 > 0:02:57But what Holbein is really saying here is that Henry is fertile,
0:02:57 > 0:03:03he's full of lovely sperm, he is the ideal medieval macho monarch.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11Elizabeth obviously didn't have her father's imposing physical attributes,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15but she helped to make up for that using clothes.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18And to spread the message of how queenly this queen was,
0:03:18 > 0:03:23portraits of her were hung in every great house of the realm,
0:03:23 > 0:03:24including Hatfield.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31This is an extraordinary dress that she's wearing.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33And what's this white, gauzy stuff
0:03:33 > 0:03:36that's sort of swirling around her like a cloud?
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Well, that's very fine fabric,
0:03:39 > 0:03:44it's wired at the edges, so it gives the effect up there of wings,
0:03:44 > 0:03:49so it's giving her, as she moves, tremendous presence and consequence.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52It looks like a sort of personal cloud of dry ice,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54swirling around her wherever she goes.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58It looks fantastic in the portrait, what it was like in reality,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01walking around with great wired wings, you know,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03particularly if there was any kind of wind.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05I guess you'd blow away if the wind got behind you.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Well, I wouldn't try it out.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12While Elizabeth's incredible dress may have been impractical,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14it certainly gave her presence.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17But it wasn't just the colour and shape that had significance,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20the dress is full of symbolism
0:04:20 > 0:04:23that an Elizabethan viewer could read like a book.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27To them, the pearls signified peace and purity.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30She was supposed to be the Virgin Queen.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35The bejewelled snake symbolised wisdom, the heart symbolised love.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40This Queen ruled with both heart and head - and she had eyes everywhere.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46What's going on, for example, with these little eyes?
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Well, the eyes and the ears...
0:04:48 > 0:04:51They really are very freakish.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52They are extraordinary.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Do you think this is the Queen saying, I can hear everything
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and I can see everything that you do?
0:04:57 > 0:05:03It is, rule of the stage, as it were, is symbolised by eyes and ears.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05What's going on with the rainbow?
0:05:05 > 0:05:07We know this is the rainbow picture
0:05:07 > 0:05:11because she is holding this thing that looks like a grey hosepipe.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15This at one stage must have been all the colours of the rainbow
0:05:15 > 0:05:19but now they've faded, so we have this little inscription here.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22- That's a clue.- The inscription in Latin says,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24"Without the sun you don't get the rainbow."
0:05:24 > 0:05:26So she is the sun, basically?
0:05:26 > 0:05:29She is the sun, a very common metaphor for a ruler,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32and the rainbow is the symbol of peace
0:05:32 > 0:05:37and this is really what everyone wants - peace and tranquillity.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39The picture is saying, "I've got a heart, I'm wise,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42"I'm wearing a snake, I can hear you and see you with the eyes and ears
0:05:42 > 0:05:45"and also I'm holding a rainbow, I can control the weather."
0:05:45 > 0:05:49That's a pretty good range of skills and attributes, isn't it?
0:05:49 > 0:05:50Well, effectively it is.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Elizabeth's dresses were an important part
0:05:53 > 0:05:55of the Tudor propaganda machine,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57where the people saw them in pictures
0:05:57 > 0:06:00or on her progresses around the country
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and we know they were important to her from the number she possessed.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08This little street here is called Wardrobe Place
0:06:08 > 0:06:13because 400 years ago, a vast building stood here
0:06:13 > 0:06:14to house the royal wardrobe.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19It had its own special staff, the warders of the robes.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24And this map of Elizabethan London shows it took up a whole city block,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27it was like a vast warehouse full of dresses.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30An inventory taken in 1599 revealed that
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Elizabeth I had 1,326 of them.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Elizabeth's vast clothing collection required
0:06:38 > 0:06:41a huge retinue of staff to look after it.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44One man was employed just to look after her muffs.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48So, considering the sheer number of her dresses,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50it's quite remarkable that none survived today.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54At Westminster Abbey, though,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58the resting place of the royals for the last 1,000 years,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02you do get a tantalising and intimate glimpse of one single item.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11This is one of the very earliest surviving bits of royal clothing -
0:07:11 > 0:07:13we've still got it
0:07:13 > 0:07:16because of the weird tradition of the funeral effigy.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20This was a model of the dead King or Queen that was made to be carried
0:07:20 > 0:07:24in their funeral procession to Westminster Abbey.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Elizabeth I's head is missing, but originally it was painted
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and coloured so beautifully
0:07:30 > 0:07:34that it apparently looked like she was still alive.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37And her figure was dressed in her coronation robes
0:07:37 > 0:07:41and underneath that, specially constructed underwear.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44This corset-type thing,
0:07:44 > 0:07:49called a set of stays, doesn't look like much, but it is remarkable.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Originally it was a very high-status item.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56It's made with many, many strips of whale bone for support
0:07:56 > 0:07:59that have been sewed into it very carefully
0:07:59 > 0:08:01with a huge amount of labour.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03And it's extraordinary to think that this represents
0:08:03 > 0:08:08the body of a woman who was 70 years old.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13It forces the flesh into a very unnatural, long, narrow shape.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Which was partly Elizabethan fashion,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19but it was also the Queen wanting to create
0:08:19 > 0:08:24a very strange and otherworldly image for herself.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Elizabeth's underwear was originally only seen
0:08:29 > 0:08:31by her ladies-in-waiting.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33And it's only when the effigy was conserved
0:08:33 > 0:08:37that this intimate item was accidently discovered.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40The stays are exciting
0:08:40 > 0:08:42because they formed the foundation
0:08:42 > 0:08:45for an incredible number of layers above
0:08:45 > 0:08:48that would construct Elizabeth's unique silhouette.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54How long do you think it would take, Mark,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58for Elizabeth I to get totally Queen-ed up, start to finish?
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Oh, gosh, well, she's not in a rush, so I'd imagine,
0:09:01 > 0:09:02probably about two hours.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Of course, it's not just the clothes,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07it's the jewellery, the make-up, the wig,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09the entire ensemble to be the Queen, about two hours.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13And here I am in my satin-coloured body, that's its name, isn't it?
0:09:13 > 0:09:15- A pair of bodies even. - A pair of bodies.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18And covered in fine fabric, because of course it's the Queen's.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21It's an awfully long and narrow shape,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24they're not at all like Victorian stays that give you a lovely waist.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27No, or indeed a lovely cleavage, it's a different look.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29And what's next - bum roll?
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Exactly. You're the Queen, it's covered in silk velvet.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35- Velvet - it's like a massive travel pillow, isn't it?- Indeed.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38A giant could sleep like this on the aeroplane.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41No neck ache in that. But bring it down, and unlike a Victorian one,
0:09:41 > 0:09:45which would rest right down the corset, this just in the middle.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47And we're looking for a cone shape.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50That's exactly what these garments achieve, it makes you more and more
0:09:50 > 0:09:54like an insect, bizarre shape of the late Elizabethan and Jacobean age.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56- There we are.- And what's the point of the bum roll?
0:09:56 > 0:10:00It seems to be that the more space you have, the richer you are,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02so you're making so much space here, no-one can get close to you.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04You'll have to walk very slowly anyway,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07because no gentleman or lady would hurry - servants do that.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10So, now I've got my soft hips, I can bump into things,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12if it's late at night. What comes next - is it the hoops?
0:10:12 > 0:10:14It is - the farthingale.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17These shapes are made of osier,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20the same as they use in barrels, these big circles of wood.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23So this is wood inside, big, round, wooden circles?
0:10:23 > 0:10:25That's right. Over your head.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28- Does it do up at the back or at the front?- At the front.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31It's got to nestle just on top of the bum pad
0:10:31 > 0:10:33and go all the way down to give you that shape,
0:10:33 > 0:10:34taking up even more space.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38Of course, it's quite improper that a gentleman should dress you, or even a man like myself.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Of course, it's an immensely titillating sight for you, isn't it?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44It certainly is. I'm doing my best to control myself.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47- How do you feel? - I feel...
0:10:47 > 0:10:49rather Queenly.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Now the petticoat, Lucy.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54And this is beautiful, this is the four-part
0:10:54 > 0:10:56and it's white and gold, as you see.
0:10:56 > 0:10:57The back is of silk,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59it's not as good as the front, but it's pretty good,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02but no-one sees it except the ladies who are dressing you.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06- Only I know that I have a silken bottom?- Indeed. OK, all right?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Now, Lucy, turn around and give us a twirl.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11- Does my bum look big in this? - HE LAUGHS
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Now, let's imprison those wandering hands of yours
0:11:14 > 0:11:16in miles and miles of velvet.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Hang onto your cuffs cos this is jolly heavy.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- Oh, there we are. Are you in?- Whoa!
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Now, how does that feel?
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Very cosy.
0:11:26 > 0:11:27It looks good on you, colour-wise.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Impossible, most of these dresses, for people to get into themselves.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35And now for your so-called cartwheel ruff...Your Majesty.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Forgive my trembling hands.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41You know, it really works, all of this gear.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Cos I do actually feel extremely Queen-like.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50You look it too. Queen of hearts. Ah, yes, excellent.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Behead that man and give that lady a peerage.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Very good, madam.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Ah, lovely!
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Elizabeth I's dresses literally dazzled the eyes
0:12:05 > 0:12:08of her 16th-century courtiers and visitors.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12This dress alone was covered with 800 freshwater pearls
0:12:12 > 0:12:16and that's not including the jewellery she wore on top.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19As a result, Elizabeth's wardrobe became legendary,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21even in her own lifetime.
0:12:21 > 0:12:27In 1600, when the Moravian Baron Wolfstein visited England,
0:12:27 > 0:12:32he said his sole object had been to win an audience with the Queen.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35And afterwards he said that she had been glittering
0:12:35 > 0:12:38with the glory of majesty
0:12:38 > 0:12:42and she had been adorned all over with precious jewels and gems.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Elizabethan fashion not only bolstered
0:12:47 > 0:12:50the international reputation of the Queen herself,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53but also her entire court.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56She used clothes to construct her own personal image,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59but expected the rest of her court to follow her lead.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03A gentleman's suit, appropriate for court wear,
0:13:03 > 0:13:08would cost as much as a year's rent on his London town house.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11To maintain standards, Elizabeth even passed laws
0:13:11 > 0:13:15on what people should, and importantly, should not wear.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Elizabeth wanted her courtiers to look good,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23but she didn't want them getting above their station.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27So she passed no less than ten Statutes of Apparel -
0:13:27 > 0:13:32laws that said who could wear what, at what rank of society.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35So here is a 16th-century Act of Parliament
0:13:35 > 0:13:39against the inordinate use of apparel.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42It says here that if you want to wear cloth of gold,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46you have to be an Earl or above that in status.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48If you want to wear fur on your clothes,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52you have to be worth at least £100 a year.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55And I also like the impression it gives
0:13:55 > 0:13:59that the Queen can see you even in your bedroom.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Woe betide you if you are worth less than £20 a year
0:14:03 > 0:14:07and if you wear the sumptuous fabric of silk on your night cap.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Elizabeth's wardrobe really proves
0:14:10 > 0:14:13how royal dress has the power to make a monarch.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18Her image contributed to the longevity of her 44-year reign
0:14:18 > 0:14:23and the relative peace and prosperity that the country enjoyed throughout.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28But the wardrobes of her successors, the Stuarts,
0:14:28 > 0:14:32show how clothes could contribute to the breaking-up of a monarchy.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37By the early 17th century,
0:14:37 > 0:14:42the royal wardrobe of Charles I had become a symbol for excess and vice.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46In 1633, Parliament ordered an inquiry
0:14:46 > 0:14:48into the accounts of the royal wardrobe
0:14:48 > 0:14:52and they discovered that money had been siphoned off.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56It had been spent on unauthorised days out and other jollies.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Basically it was a 17th-century expenses scandal.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03In the 16th century,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06the Tudor monarchs had kept their artists on a tight rein.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10They, and they alone, had determined how they should be painted.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12But the rise of the printing press
0:15:12 > 0:15:15and the sale of illustrated pamphlets on street corners
0:15:15 > 0:15:19meant that the Stuart image would be treated less respectfully.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24And court fashion became part of the political battle ground.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Now, these pictures from satirical pamphlets
0:15:27 > 0:15:31show the power of dress and particularly accusations
0:15:31 > 0:15:33about the lavishness of dress and the role it played
0:15:33 > 0:15:38in the propaganda war leading up to the actual, physical Civil War.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43This gentleman in this picture is a Cavalier, he fights for the King.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46And the artist is basically saying that, with all of his clothes
0:15:46 > 0:15:49and all of his styling, the gentleman is a twit,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51because look at what he's wearing.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54The key tells us that he's wearing a silly hat,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56it looks like a closed stool pan,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59or a toilet pan, set on the top of his noodle.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03It says here that he's wearing a long-waisted doublet,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05unbuttoned halfway.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Now, that's shades of Simon Cowell
0:16:07 > 0:16:09and the button's a bit too open on the shirt.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12He's got in his hand a stick, playing with it -
0:16:12 > 0:16:14we know what that means.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17And he's also wearing a great big pair of spurs,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19so you hear him coming along -
0:16:19 > 0:16:21he jingles like a morris dancer as he approaches.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25So basically he is absolutely ridiculous.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29In this other pamphlet, the thing is getting a little bit more serious,
0:16:29 > 0:16:33because here we've got the Civil War as an allegory of a dogfight.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35What I really like about this image
0:16:35 > 0:16:37is the way that the dogs and their masters have
0:16:37 > 0:16:40exactly the same haircuts. Look, the Cavaliers have got
0:16:40 > 0:16:45long, wavy, curly hair, and so too has their dog,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49whereas the Roundhead dog, he has exactly the same
0:16:49 > 0:16:53pudding basin-type haircut as his Parliamentarian masters.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Now, the luxurious clothing of the King and his Cavaliers
0:17:01 > 0:17:04did not lead directly to the Civil War,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08but negative comment about their wardrobes opened the way for
0:17:08 > 0:17:13other, much more serious, complaints that ended in armed rebellion.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14So it might sound surprising
0:17:14 > 0:17:17that right at the end of Charles I's life,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20when he was incarcerated and awaiting trial,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23he was still thinking about his wardrobe.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28You might think that Charles I, defeated, in prison,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31would have other things on his mind apart from his clothes.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35But when he heard he was to be brought to London for his trial,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38what does he do? He orders a new velvet suit
0:17:38 > 0:17:40covered all over in gold embroidery.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44He still wanted to make a regal, a kingly impression.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49The King's trial ended with the order for his execution.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53It was to take place on 30th January 1649.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57That morning, he dressed with great care.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01He put on two shirts, because it was very cold that day
0:18:01 > 0:18:05and he didn't want anyone to see him shivering on the scaffold.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08He was brought here to the Palace of Whitehall,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11and his guards marched him through the galleries,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15through this very door into the Banqueting House,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18the last room that Charles I would ever see.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27The King was frog-marched through this space
0:18:27 > 0:18:30and out through a hole in the wall that had been made,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34leading onto a scaffold erected in the street outside.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37There, he said his last prayers, he took off his hat,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40he moved his long hair out of the way to bare his neck.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44And he gave his gloves to his friend, Archbishop Juxon.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Then he knelt down and put his head on the block,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50it was very low, he was almost lying on his stomach.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52And then the axe came down.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Fashion and clothing were central to Charles I's kingship
0:18:59 > 0:19:02and its power was revealed most fully
0:19:02 > 0:19:05by what happened to his wardrobe following his execution.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08After the King's death, there was a great deal of interest
0:19:08 > 0:19:11in what was going to happen to his clothes.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13People started to collect them.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15And so we have the cap he wore
0:19:15 > 0:19:18when he was captured by the Parliamentarians.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Even more excitingly, we've got fragments of the cloak he wore
0:19:22 > 0:19:24on the morning of his execution.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27And those gloves he gave to Archbishop Juxon,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29well, here they are.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30But hang on a minute...
0:19:32 > 0:19:34These are also said to have been the gloves he wore
0:19:34 > 0:19:36on the morning of the execution.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41And if you go to Lambeth Palace, they've got a third pair there.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Now, clearly he wasn't wearing three pairs of gloves
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and clearly not all of these things can be real,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50but that's not really the point.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53To the supporters of the defeated King Charles,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56these items of royal clothing had such power,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58they had such significance
0:19:58 > 0:20:02that people venerated them, like the relics of a holy saint.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Now, for first and only time in the last thousand years,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09the country was without a monarch.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14To many people, the monarchy itself was dead and gone
0:20:14 > 0:20:16with all its pomp and ceremony,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19including props such as royal clothing.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28This is the iconic image of Oliver Cromwell.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30The original was painted by Sir Peter Lely,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32who ironically was a court painter.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35But when Cromwell went about having his picture painted,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39he did it in quite a different way to, say, Elizabeth I.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41He's supposed to have said to Lely,
0:20:41 > 0:20:46"You've got to show me as I really am, warts and all."
0:20:47 > 0:20:51And it seems like he got his way - look at that giant wart on his chin.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Cromwell's portrait suggests that he wanted to distance himself
0:20:56 > 0:21:00from the extravagant image of his royal rivals.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04And his supporters preserved relics that promoted this image.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08So, John, this is the actual hat of Oliver Cromwell?
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Well, we'd like to think so,
0:21:10 > 0:21:11but actually if you look at it,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15- it's really a bit too small. - Oh!- I know.
0:21:15 > 0:21:16It's definitely a hat of the period, though.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19- It's more likely to be a woman's or a child's hat.- Oh, no!
0:21:19 > 0:21:21- Wouldn't have fitted on his big head?- I don't think so.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23John, you are such a spoilsport.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27- I know.- But these really do have to be his rather lovely gloves?
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Could be, there's a label inside them which says that they were given
0:21:31 > 0:21:35by a gentleman in Huntingdon in 1704 and they were given to a member
0:21:35 > 0:21:39of the Cromwell family, so they were believed to be Cromwell's gloves.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And they're still believed to be Cromwell's gloves.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44I want them to be Cromwell's gloves because they fit in with
0:21:44 > 0:21:48my idea of him - they're sort of rufty-tufty, they're leather,
0:21:48 > 0:21:49not fancy, they look practical.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53I imagine that a man who wanted himself painted warts and all
0:21:53 > 0:21:55would have worn gloves like this.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56I think that's the point, really,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59they perhaps fit in with the image, the warts-and-all image,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02which by the 18th century is what people probably thought
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Cromwell might have said, ought to have said, and therefore did say.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Whether these clothes actually were Cromwell's or not,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14they projected the image that his supporters wanted -
0:22:14 > 0:22:18a simple man, full of Puritan virtue.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23In reality, though, things were rather different.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26As a ruler, Cromwell adopted many of the trappings of being a king.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28He didn't know what else to do,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31there were no other models to follow.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36And when he died, his supporters even buried him with a crown.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40The Commonwealth really died with Cromwell
0:22:40 > 0:22:43and the country's republican experiment ended with
0:22:43 > 0:22:47the return of Charles II to reclaim his father's throne.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51But Charles's new subjects noticed that he was anxious to avoid
0:22:51 > 0:22:53making the same mistakes as his father
0:22:53 > 0:22:57and that even filtered through to his fashion sense.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04In his diary for 1666, Samuel Pepys tells us about something
0:23:04 > 0:23:09unprecedented that the King did in one of his council meetings.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Charles II had declared his resolution of setting
0:23:12 > 0:23:17a brand-new fashion for clothes, for everybody at court.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22He did this to teach the nobility thrift, which Samuel Pepys,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24and presumably the rest of the population,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26thought was a very good thing.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Charles II was introducing a new kind of outfit - the suit.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36Although the suit's decoration could be quite the opposite of thrifty.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41Susan, this suit is covered all over with silver embroidery,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44that's a bit over the top, isn't it?
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Well, it was worn for an important occasion
0:23:47 > 0:23:50by the brother of Charles II - James -
0:23:50 > 0:23:55when he was Duke of York, when he married in 1673.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Imagine him coming into a candlelit room,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59he must have glistened all over like a Christmas tree.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Well, yes, and perhaps even more so when the coat and breeches
0:24:03 > 0:24:08were first made as the threads were that much brighter and sparkling.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13What's so new about this as an outfit of clothes?
0:24:13 > 0:24:17What's remarkable for a royal dress is the fact that it's a coat
0:24:17 > 0:24:21he's wearing with his breeches, and not a doublet.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23So the doublet would have been a tight little jacket
0:24:23 > 0:24:26and then big, baggy breeches.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Yes, and then the doublet, by this time, sort of ends
0:24:28 > 0:24:30barely at the waistline.
0:24:30 > 0:24:37So perhaps it was a good opportunity for Charles to set something new,
0:24:37 > 0:24:43maybe the doublet was too reminiscent of the old court, of his father.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48Here was a chance to establish a look that would be uniquely
0:24:48 > 0:24:52identified with him, an outfit that everybody was desperate to wear
0:24:52 > 0:24:55and thinks is really cool and stylish.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Where did Charles II, then, get his fashion sense?
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Clearly he was a fashionable sort of fellow.
0:25:01 > 0:25:07Well, he did very significantly spend time at the court of Louis XIV.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09Louis was recognised as being
0:25:09 > 0:25:12the style leader for absolutely everything,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16including clothing, and was quite dictatorial about
0:25:16 > 0:25:19what people were allowed to wear and how they were to present themselves.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Surely emulating someone who's a bit dictatorial about fashion
0:25:23 > 0:25:24isn't a very good idea for Charles II
0:25:24 > 0:25:28cos he's seen his father be dictatorial and get his head chopped off as a result.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Well, certainly he must have taken that into account,
0:25:31 > 0:25:36but on the other hand, it's not something that's decreed,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39he doesn't enforce the wearing of this garment.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44So is it fair to say that Louis XIV is going, "Courtiers, wear what I want."
0:25:44 > 0:25:46He's using the French stick if you like.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49And then we've got Charles II in London making everybody
0:25:49 > 0:25:52want to wear the suit because it looks so good.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55- He's using the carrot. - Yes, absolutely.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58We've got the French stick or the English carrot.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59Which do you prefer?
0:25:59 > 0:26:03Well, I think we'd all go for the English carrot, wouldn't we?
0:26:03 > 0:26:04Good answer.
0:26:14 > 0:26:19Now, Charles II may be remembered as the jolly old merry monarch,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23but I believe that he was a particularly canny king.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26He cleverly distanced himself from his father, Charles I,
0:26:26 > 0:26:31and also from contemporary absolutist monarchs, like Louis XIV.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36And Charles II marks a real turning point for the British monarchy.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38His predecessors had all believed
0:26:38 > 0:26:41that they had a God-given right to rule.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43But from Charles II onwards,
0:26:43 > 0:26:48every British monarch knew that he nor she was no longer top dog,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50and that he or she had to rule
0:26:50 > 0:26:53by paying a nod to the power of their people.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00After the Civil War,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Charles had realised that monarchs could no longer power-dress,
0:27:03 > 0:27:08like Elizabeth I, because they simply didn't wield as much power.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11But they were still left with the pomp.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16As a trilogy of Georges navigated their way through the 18th century,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19gentlemen sported the new sensible suits,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21while ladies did quite the opposite.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Now, Eleri, what is this extraordinary object?
0:27:26 > 0:27:32This is an 18th-century version of an underskirt
0:27:32 > 0:27:34known as a side hoop or panniers.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38It was worn to create a very extravagant skirt shape.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42So, my body, my waist, goes in that hole there, right?
0:27:42 > 0:27:43You stand in there
0:27:43 > 0:27:46and then this drawstring gathers around your waist.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49- And you tie that up?- Absolutely. - Is this whalebone under here?
0:27:49 > 0:27:51- Yes.- It's quite a flexible thing.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Exactly, it's what creates the shape.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Although it doesn't look very much,
0:27:55 > 0:27:57it's actually quite a special luxury garment.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00And it's amazing that underwear like this survives from the 18th century.
0:28:00 > 0:28:01It's very rare.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04And what kind of a dress would have gone on top?
0:28:04 > 0:28:07An extraordinary dress called the court mantua.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Tell me about this, it's almost ridiculous,
0:28:09 > 0:28:11the size and shape of this thing,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13it must be the least practical dress ever.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Absolutely, but that's sort of the point,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21is that the person who was wearing this was obviously rich enough
0:28:21 > 0:28:24and important enough not to wear practical clothes.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27You couldn't do a shred of work in this, in fact you could barely move.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31They were wearing these dresses at the Georgian court
0:28:31 > 0:28:33and they became something of a uniform, didn't they?
0:28:33 > 0:28:38They did, it was actually prescribed, and there were very strict rules of etiquette
0:28:38 > 0:28:41about what sorts of dresses you should wear
0:28:41 > 0:28:43and women had to wear these mantuas,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46pretty much for most of the 18th century.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49I've read that the courtiers complained about all the ruffles
0:28:49 > 0:28:52and the frills getting in the way of any sort of activity
0:28:52 > 0:28:54they wanted to be doing. What about this particular silk
0:28:54 > 0:28:57that's been woven here, what's the significance of it?
0:28:57 > 0:29:01This particular silk is a very expensive one,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04because of the complexity of the weave, there aren't that many
0:29:04 > 0:29:07repeating patterns within it,
0:29:07 > 0:29:09which to the trained eye at court
0:29:09 > 0:29:14would signify very rarefied sensibility and also a lot of money.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18This one's pretty wide, is this as extreme as mantuas get?
0:29:18 > 0:29:21You did get skirts that came out
0:29:21 > 0:29:24at complete right angles to the waist and then down.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27- A big walking oblong? - Absolutely.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Do you think then, I get the sense that by the late Georgian period,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33going to court must have been a bit like going to the zoo,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36like the dinosaurs are still walking the earth
0:29:36 > 0:29:38wearing these crazy outmoded dresses.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42But that was part of maintaining at court
0:29:42 > 0:29:47this splendour of the 18th century, because everything about the court
0:29:47 > 0:29:50and society changed so much during that century
0:29:50 > 0:29:52that it was a way of preserving in aspic
0:29:52 > 0:29:55the ceremony associated with court.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11This has to be the world's least practical dress.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19When you came to court you had to follow an extremely strict
0:30:19 > 0:30:20code of behaviour.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24You'd be coached beforehand by your dancing master.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26So one court lady tells us
0:30:26 > 0:30:29that if a hairpin was pricking your scalp,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32you couldn't pull it out - you had to put up with the pain.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36If it got really bad, then you could bite the inside of your cheek
0:30:36 > 0:30:39and swallow the blood as a diversion.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42So what were the rules of wearing a dress like this?
0:30:42 > 0:30:45Well, firstly, there were no chairs in the room -
0:30:45 > 0:30:48it's contrary to etiquette to sit down in the royal presence,
0:30:48 > 0:30:52so you had to stand for hours in your heavy hoops
0:30:52 > 0:30:55and also in your high-heeled shoes.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58You mustn't cross your arms, that's a complete no-no,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02as is turning your back on the King or Queen.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05If you wanted to leave the room, you had to ask permission,
0:31:05 > 0:31:09and if it was given, you had to curtsy three times
0:31:09 > 0:31:12and then back out of the room,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14avoiding collisions with other ladies
0:31:14 > 0:31:18in their hoops, and getting yourself straight out of the door.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Everybody wants to know how the court ladies went to the loo,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24and the answer is they're not yet wearing knickers,
0:31:24 > 0:31:26which haven't been invented.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28So they ARE able to use the chamber pot.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31But to do this, you're supposed to ask for permission and withdraw
0:31:31 > 0:31:35to the anteroom, and permission is not necessarily forthcoming.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38Once, one of Queen Caroline's ladies
0:31:38 > 0:31:41was refused permission to withdraw,
0:31:41 > 0:31:42and a few minutes later,
0:31:42 > 0:31:47a humiliating puddle appeared from underneath her mantua,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49and this is the contemporary quotation -
0:31:49 > 0:31:53"It threatens the shoes of bystanders."
0:31:59 > 0:32:01By the end of the 18th century,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04courtly dress had become a source of derision.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06The royal wardrobe was becoming
0:32:06 > 0:32:08less and less relevant to the outside world -
0:32:08 > 0:32:11and so too was the monarchy itself.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14The population might have laughed a lot more
0:32:14 > 0:32:19if the royal joke hadn't been quite literally at their expense.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24This is the Prince Regent,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27the future George IV,
0:32:27 > 0:32:29standing in for his dad while he was mad.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33You may remember him as the Hugh Laurie character in Blackadder -
0:32:33 > 0:32:36in other words, a bit of a twit.
0:32:36 > 0:32:37When he finally became King in 1820
0:32:37 > 0:32:39he put on the most wonderful coronation,
0:32:39 > 0:32:43it was an enormous spectacle that everybody enjoyed,
0:32:43 > 0:32:46until they discovered how much it had cost.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51He spent £25,000 on his robes that he only wore for a few hours.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55George IV was a very stylish man.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59As his wife said, it was just a shame that he had to be King,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02he would have made a much better hairdresser.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04MUSIC: "Zadok the Priest" by Handel
0:33:29 > 0:33:30Now, if I had to imagine the slippers
0:33:30 > 0:33:32of that bling lover George IV,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34this is what I would come up with.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Yeah, definitely, and I like how they match the pink,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40sort of salmon-pinky lining to the silver tops.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Oh, look, there's a pink lining as well, look at that.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46And they glitter - and you've got a matching gold pair over there.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Yes, with a yellow lining.
0:33:48 > 0:33:53And then most importantly we have George's actual coronation shoes.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57The moment of becoming King he was wearing these shoes -
0:33:57 > 0:33:59and they're silver again,
0:33:59 > 0:34:04and they have the little red heels of royalty.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06Now, this was the greatest show on earth, wasn't it?
0:34:06 > 0:34:07Tell me more about it.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11I think it looked spectacular but I think it also looked a bit strange,
0:34:11 > 0:34:15because what George did, he made all the courtiers wear some
0:34:15 > 0:34:19sort of historic fancy dress outfit, some sort of Tudor/Stuarty number.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Was this dignified for a poor aged peer with knobbly knees
0:34:23 > 0:34:25to be sent out in tight stockings?
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Probably not. I mean, I guess they weren't all old,
0:34:28 > 0:34:33there were probably some men with really nice knees and nice legs...
0:34:33 > 0:34:37But it has an air of sort of theatre fancy dress about it, I think.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Did they have to pay for their own costumes?
0:34:40 > 0:34:42As far as I understand, they did.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46I've read somewhere that one of these could cost up to £250,
0:34:46 > 0:34:47that's a lot of money.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51What did people really think of George's love of clothes?
0:34:51 > 0:34:55I think they thought it was a bit undignified for a king.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58You should maybe occupy your thoughts with other things
0:34:58 > 0:35:01than the cut of your pantaloons or your cravats.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03He was too busy fussing round with his buttons?
0:35:03 > 0:35:06I think that was what a lot of people thought.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09What happened to his fabulous wardrobe after he died?
0:35:09 > 0:35:13Well, quite a lot was sold off. So we happen to have
0:35:13 > 0:35:17an auction catalogue, which lists some of the things he had.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20He had 28 white waistcoats, of which we have three.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22But why did he need 28 white waistcoats?
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Well, that's a good question, why does anyone need 28 waistcoats?
0:35:26 > 0:35:31One of them is here, and if you open it up you can actually see
0:35:31 > 0:35:35it says here PR for Prince Regent and you can see how big it is.
0:35:35 > 0:35:36It's large!
0:35:36 > 0:35:39But what is really bizarre in here, there is
0:35:39 > 0:35:40one lot that you could buy -
0:35:40 > 0:35:44"two masquerade nun's dresses and a red petticoat."
0:35:44 > 0:35:48- What he was doing with the nun's dresses?- I have absolutely no idea.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51Maybe he went somewhere dressed up as a nun.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55- Oh, that's a brilliant image, isn't it?!- Rather large nun.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02All this meant that when the King died, he wasn't much mourned.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05This book written about him, the year after his death,
0:36:05 > 0:36:09says that to George IV the cut of a coat
0:36:09 > 0:36:11became of greater consequence
0:36:11 > 0:36:15than the amelioration of the condition of Ireland.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18He cared more about the tie of a neckcloth
0:36:18 > 0:36:21than he did about parliamentary reform.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25Instead of governing the country, he'd spend all morning
0:36:25 > 0:36:26talking with his tailor
0:36:26 > 0:36:31about the merits of loose trousers over tight pantaloons.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35His obituary in The Times newspaper claimed that,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39"Never was an individual regretted less by his people
0:36:39 > 0:36:42"than this deceased King.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45"What eye has wept for him?"
0:36:49 > 0:36:53George IV was the least popular King since Charles I,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57and his wasteful and egotistical attitude to clothes
0:36:57 > 0:36:59was one of the reasons that the monarchy's image
0:36:59 > 0:37:03reached such a low point in the early 19th century.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05An increasingly critical press
0:37:05 > 0:37:07meant that people were more aware than ever
0:37:07 > 0:37:10of what the royals were up to.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14Yet the monarchy's status was about to be transformed -
0:37:14 > 0:37:15by a rather unlikely figure.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22If you were asked to name the most clothes-obsessed, image-conscious
0:37:22 > 0:37:27King or Queen, you probably wouldn't come up with Queen Victoria.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30Most people think of her as a little old lady dressed in black,
0:37:30 > 0:37:32looking like a potato,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35but actually she loved clothes,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38and Queen Victoria is the woman who gave us the white wedding dress.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43Victoria may be remembered as the widow in black,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45but at her wedding she abandoned the convention
0:37:45 > 0:37:47of wearing royal robes.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50She chose instead her white dress,
0:37:50 > 0:37:52and even designed her bridesmaids' outfits.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57But it wasn't all black and white in Victoria's wardrobe.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Deirdre, this is not our idea of Queen Victoria, is it?
0:38:00 > 0:38:03She's pretty short and she's pretty teeny-tiny round the waist.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Look how small that is.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09She is. Well, she wore this dress when she was about 16 years old,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12- so it is pretty teeny-tiny. - It's so cute.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16It is cute. She was five foot one and three-quarters,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19and the sleeves are very beautifully puffed
0:38:19 > 0:38:21as any 1830s evening gown would be.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24The silhouette of the dress is also off the shoulder
0:38:24 > 0:38:27and creates a very beautiful line around her neckline.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30It's possible she wore it the first time she met Prince Albert.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32That's so romantic.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34But what do you think she thought of fashion?
0:38:34 > 0:38:35She really doesn't
0:38:35 > 0:38:39have a place on the best dressed list of queens of history, does she?
0:38:39 > 0:38:42She was certainly very, very interested in fashion
0:38:42 > 0:38:45and extremely aware of the power
0:38:45 > 0:38:47that fashion had in shaping public opinion.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50For big public occasions she always wore British,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53and that was something that was always clearly identified
0:38:53 > 0:38:57in newspaper articles describing her clothes for any particular event.
0:38:57 > 0:38:58Do you think that Queen Victoria
0:38:58 > 0:39:00self-consciously constructed her image?
0:39:00 > 0:39:03Definitely. She was absolutely obsessed with theatre, to the point
0:39:03 > 0:39:08where she actually dressed her family and friends as well.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13So say for instance... This is the christening of Princess Vicky,
0:39:13 > 0:39:15her eldest daughter,
0:39:15 > 0:39:17and you can see that the Queen is here
0:39:17 > 0:39:20wearing a very magnificent dress in silver and gold,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22looking very Queen-like.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24But it's also a very special group,
0:39:24 > 0:39:29distinguished by their unified clothing in silver, gold and white.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32And again, when Queen Victoria visited Scotland in 1842,
0:39:32 > 0:39:37she went to Drummond Castle for this enormous ball
0:39:37 > 0:39:41- where everyone wore tartan, except for her.- Oh!
0:39:41 > 0:39:44It says here her dress was composed of rich Spitalfields silk
0:39:44 > 0:39:45of a pale pink.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48Are you saying that she outclassed everybody else?
0:39:48 > 0:39:50Not necessarily that she outclassed everyone else
0:39:50 > 0:39:53but she's certainly dressing to stand out here.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57She had worn tartan throughout the entire visit to Scotland in 1842.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00For days on end she's dressed from head to toe in tartan,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04and on the biggest day of the entire visit
0:40:04 > 0:40:08she decides to wear pale pink in front of a backdrop of tartan.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Mmm. That sounds rather lovely, doesn't it?
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Micro-managing her own and her family's wardrobe
0:40:15 > 0:40:19helped Queen Victoria to win over the hearts of her people,
0:40:19 > 0:40:21and to make the monarchy popular once again.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Victoria understood not only the power of dress,
0:40:26 > 0:40:28but also the power of the press.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32Here's a letter from Queen Victoria to her son,
0:40:32 > 0:40:36about her belief in the power of dress.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39She says it's "the one outward sign
0:40:39 > 0:40:41"from which people can and often do judge
0:40:41 > 0:40:45"the inward state of mind" of a person.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50And it's of particular importance in persons of high rank.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54So, she says to him, "We do expect that you will never wear
0:40:54 > 0:40:57"anything extravagant or slang," as she puts it,
0:40:57 > 0:41:02too casual - "because that would prove a want of self-respect
0:41:02 > 0:41:06"and be an offence against decency."
0:41:06 > 0:41:10Like Elizabeth I, Victoria made careful clothing choices
0:41:10 > 0:41:12that played well to her people.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16And like Elizabeth, Victoria enjoyed a long and stable reign.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19She knew that her dresses would make their impact
0:41:19 > 0:41:21through newspaper reports.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24With expanding readerships, and the introduction of photography,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27she, her family and their descendents
0:41:27 > 0:41:31would be under closer scrutiny than ever before.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33Though some of her successors were less prudent,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37and the results for the monarchy were nearly catastrophic.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43This is a gentleman's suit from the 1930s.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Now, you might think that it's a bit loud -
0:41:47 > 0:41:50look at this houndstooth in the tweed -
0:41:50 > 0:41:52and you can imagine
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Bertie Wooster perhaps going out in a suit like this,
0:41:55 > 0:41:58but it isn't actually offensive to our eyes.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01At the time, though, the establishment thought that this suit
0:42:01 > 0:42:07was scandalous - as they did also its owner, who was Edward VIII.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Edward VIII's approach to clothing was rather like George IV's.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17His relationship with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson
0:42:17 > 0:42:21was the real reason that he abdicated in 1936.
0:42:21 > 0:42:26But Edward's playboy lifestyle, and the wardrobe that he favoured -
0:42:26 > 0:42:28here at his golf club, for example -
0:42:28 > 0:42:31had caused concern much earlier on.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Shaun - looking at these photos of the Prince of Wales,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41the future Edward VIII,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43he looks pretty smart in all of them I'd say,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46I'd say that was a pretty smart jacket there.
0:42:46 > 0:42:47What was the problem with this?
0:42:47 > 0:42:50Well, in today's conventions it IS a smart jacket,
0:42:50 > 0:42:52it's a Glen plaid jacket.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54But tweeds, Glen plaids like this,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57it was wear for the country, it wasn't city wear
0:42:57 > 0:42:58and he was wearing these things
0:42:58 > 0:43:00outside the place they were supposed to be worn
0:43:00 > 0:43:02and that's where he was pushing boundaries.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06So is that like turning up to Royal Ascot wearing a shell suit?
0:43:06 > 0:43:08I don't think it's quite as extreme as that,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11but certainly it would have been... It was about the appropriateness.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13So at a time when he would have been inspecting the troops
0:43:13 > 0:43:17and he should have been wearing something formal, perhaps uniform,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19in this image he's wearing a double-breasted jacket,
0:43:19 > 0:43:23which again we think of being rather conventional,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25but he's wearing it with a pair of shepherd tweed trousers.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29The fashion convention was for narrower Edwardian trousers
0:43:29 > 0:43:31that his father would have worn.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33- These are bags. - They are bags, absolutely,
0:43:33 > 0:43:37and he very much pushed this boundary with his trousers.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40And his biography says he doesn't wear bags as such...
0:43:40 > 0:43:41Those are baggy trousers!
0:43:41 > 0:43:45..but they are very baggy trousers and in fact, while he had his jackets
0:43:45 > 0:43:47made at a tailor in London, Scholte's,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50he had his trousers made by an American tailor,
0:43:50 > 0:43:52he didn't like the cut and had them flown over.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55- That's so profligate!- Absolutely.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57What Wallis Simpson called his pants across the ocean.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00No way! His pants across the ocean. That's brilliant.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03Look at the contrast with this very formal-looking gentleman here.
0:44:03 > 0:44:04And the bowler hat as well -
0:44:04 > 0:44:08while we think of that as being, you know, the epitome of British
0:44:08 > 0:44:12tradition, it started off as a hat for the country, for servants.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16He's wearing it in town, wearing it to inspect the troops.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18He started to wear knitwear.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20He had popularised Fair Isle knitwear,
0:44:20 > 0:44:23certainly in golf and then into other forms of leisure.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25You are wearing his legacy today.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Indeed. So it just shows, doesn't it, how important he was?
0:44:28 > 0:44:33This seems like the iconic image to me - because what is he doing?
0:44:33 > 0:44:36He's got off an aeroplane, he's wearing a very stylish suit,
0:44:36 > 0:44:38he's got this funny little dog with him
0:44:38 > 0:44:41and he's doing something very camp with his arm.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43He is, and he was the modern man.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45This for me sums up Edward VIII - would you have employed him
0:44:45 > 0:44:47at the London College of Fashion?
0:44:47 > 0:44:48Absolutely!
0:44:49 > 0:44:53- I'd employ him as my tailor. As my dresser.- He should have YOUR job!
0:44:57 > 0:45:00Now, obviously Edward VIII didn't abdicate
0:45:00 > 0:45:02because he spent too much time on the golf course,
0:45:02 > 0:45:04or because of his fondness for knitwear.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08But in the eyes of the establishment these things were symptomatic.
0:45:08 > 0:45:13To them, Edward VIII was too fashionable, he was too "slang".
0:45:13 > 0:45:14If he wasn't dressed like a royal,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17people thought he wasn't behaving like a royal,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20and this was morally lax.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Edward's love of clothes kicked off a debate that would affect
0:45:30 > 0:45:34the wardrobe choices of every young royal from then until now -
0:45:34 > 0:45:36how to respond to fashion.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41It was something that the present Queen had to deal with
0:45:41 > 0:45:43from an early age,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45when Britain's wardrobes were invaded by -
0:45:45 > 0:45:48quelle horreur - the French fashion house Dior.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54Having wowed Parisian audiences with his sumptuous yet controversial
0:45:54 > 0:45:57New Look in 1947,
0:45:57 > 0:46:01Christian Dior then unleashed it upon the British public.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11Dior's New Look was pretty controversial.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13In Paris, some of his models had their clothes
0:46:13 > 0:46:17ripped from their bodies by disapproving crowds.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20And in London, the head of the Board of Trade
0:46:20 > 0:46:22thought that this was a ridiculously profligate use of fabric
0:46:22 > 0:46:26when rationing was still in force.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30The trouble was, though, that every female fashion lover in London
0:46:30 > 0:46:34loved this - including the female members of the royal family.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42While Dior's trip to London caused a public frenzy,
0:46:42 > 0:46:46there was something secret going on behind the scenes.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49One day he packs up all of his dresses into bags,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51and he sneaks out the back of his hotel,
0:46:51 > 0:46:55to travel across London to the French Embassy.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58And there he put on a private showing of his collection,
0:46:58 > 0:47:00to a whole gaggle of royals
0:47:00 > 0:47:03including the Duchess of Kent and Princess Margaret.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07But apparently one person was conspicuous by her absence -
0:47:07 > 0:47:10that was Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13It was acceptable for junior royals
0:47:13 > 0:47:16to drool over Dior and his French frocks,
0:47:16 > 0:47:20but apparently it wasn't all right for the heir to the British throne.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Princess Elizabeth's younger sister Margaret
0:47:22 > 0:47:26was the one with the freedom to frolic with fashion.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32Princess Margaret remained at the front of the fashion pack
0:47:32 > 0:47:34for her whole life -
0:47:34 > 0:47:37after all, she was married to a fashion photographer.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42She went on wearing Dior from the New Look right into the 1970s.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45This dress from 1977 is by Dior,
0:47:45 > 0:47:49and she wore it at the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53Louis Armstrong described the fashion-loving Princess Margaret
0:47:53 > 0:47:56as "one hip chick".
0:47:56 > 0:47:58I don't think he would have been able to say that
0:47:58 > 0:48:00about her elder sister, the Queen.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04# Hello, Dolly
0:48:04 > 0:48:07# This is Louis, Dolly
0:48:07 > 0:48:10# It's so nice to have you back where you belong... #
0:48:10 > 0:48:14While Margaret looked exotic, glamorous and cool,
0:48:14 > 0:48:20her elder sister realised that with HER position came responsibility.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22Like her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria,
0:48:22 > 0:48:23Her Majesty the Queen
0:48:23 > 0:48:28had to make choices that were conservative and very, very British.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31At first she used the designer Norman Hartnell,
0:48:31 > 0:48:33who she had inherited from her mother,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36before choosing Hardy Amies - whose fashion house still lies
0:48:36 > 0:48:39at the heart of British tailoring, on Savile Row.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45- OK...- This is a bit of a treasure trove in here, isn't it?
0:48:45 > 0:48:48Yes, this is where the archive, the Hardy Amies archive is kept.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Look at all of this. Ooh, I can see sparkles over here.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Yeah, the colour's so great in here.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55This was an evening dress made for the Countess of Dudley,
0:48:55 > 0:48:59who in a previous life was the Hollywood film star Maureen Swanson.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01What about this one? This is fabulous.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05This was made in 1983 for Princess Michael of Kent.
0:49:05 > 0:49:06Can I take this one home? I want it.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09Look at it, though, look at it. Isn't it wonderful?
0:49:09 > 0:49:11That's a dress for a princess, that is.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13Just layers of this lace.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15And what's in all the boxes up there?
0:49:15 > 0:49:17I see HMQ - does that stand for what I think it stands for?
0:49:17 > 0:49:20HMQ - the code, Her Majesty the Queen.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24So we have a series of boxes of fabric swatches and samples.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28The fabrics were never used for anybody else, just the Queen.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30Actually, this here is...
0:49:30 > 0:49:33This is the Queen's mannequin! Look at that.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35- The mannequin says on it, "HMQ". - Yes.- This is her.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39This is her, this is Her Majesty the Queen. 1962...
0:49:39 > 0:49:42Ooh, it's been padded out a little bit since then.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45You can see here the Queen's famously small waist.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49Yes. She did have a really fantastic waist, a great figure.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51And is this the right height?
0:49:51 > 0:49:54A little short, I think, but, yes.
0:49:54 > 0:49:55Am I taller than the Queen?
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Almost the same height. You've got heels on.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59You are correct about that.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02- And she does have a head. - Yes, of course. And a crown.
0:50:05 > 0:50:09OK. Here we have the Queen's press book.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12- Look how big it is, and it says "The Queen".- Gargantuan press book.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15So here we go, from the beginning.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17So here - this is the procession almost,
0:50:17 > 0:50:21the process of Hardy going to Buckingham Palace.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23And there's Hardy in the middle there.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25It's obviously quite a moment -
0:50:25 > 0:50:28as it says, "Setting off for Buckingham Palace, 1954."
0:50:28 > 0:50:33Yes, it was. Hardy Amies was really proud, really proud of his role
0:50:33 > 0:50:36designing for the Queen. It was his life's work, really.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38What happened when they got to Buckingham Palace?
0:50:38 > 0:50:42They would go through the back door, which always really irritated Hardy.
0:50:42 > 0:50:43The back door.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45He always thought he should have gone through the front.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48So they'd go through the back door and meet Her Majesty
0:50:48 > 0:50:50with her own team of people, there would have been her own fitter.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52So he didn't do it himself?
0:50:52 > 0:50:55No. The Queen would have had someone. Yeah.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59And he would say, "Maybe do something here with the lapel
0:50:59 > 0:51:03"or the hem of the skirt or something, maybe length-wise..."
0:51:03 > 0:51:06If you were the Queen's designer then, what were the rules
0:51:06 > 0:51:08and regulations that you had to work within?
0:51:08 > 0:51:12Well, a huge bonus would be to get a colour right - for example here
0:51:12 > 0:51:14the Queen is wearing mauve in Japan
0:51:14 > 0:51:16and that's the imperial colour of Japan.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20So when Her Majesty stepped from the aircraft wearing this,
0:51:20 > 0:51:24the host nation were delighted that she was paying homage to them.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26So it's a compliment to the host nation to incorporate
0:51:26 > 0:51:29some sort of a reference to their own culture.
0:51:29 > 0:51:30Absolutely. Absolutely.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34The Queen considered this her working wardrobe.
0:51:34 > 0:51:36She wanted to be seen.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38Even on a rainy day - we can just see a tip of it there -
0:51:38 > 0:51:41an umbrella, normally a transparent umbrella
0:51:41 > 0:51:42that the public, her public,
0:51:42 > 0:51:45could still see her in all her magnificence.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49So that's why she's in the really bright jade and the magenta and
0:51:49 > 0:51:53what I would describe as rather a terrible shade of orange.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55This incredible tangerine.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57"This is your royal duty, you will wear these colours."
0:51:57 > 0:51:59Yes - "You will stand out."
0:51:59 > 0:52:02And I can't help noticing the iconic
0:52:02 > 0:52:06shoes and handbag - the low-heeled shiny pumps, and that old handbag.
0:52:06 > 0:52:07He felt that sometimes
0:52:07 > 0:52:10that blackness didn't really complement
0:52:10 > 0:52:14some of the shades he put the Queen in -
0:52:14 > 0:52:15and here we have a shoe,
0:52:15 > 0:52:19this is a 1976 court shoe
0:52:19 > 0:52:20for Her Majesty.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22Mm-hm...
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Very importantly, they've been scored on the bottom.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28Oh, yes, you can see criss-crosses to stop her from falling over.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30They are awfully slippy, those leather soles, aren't they?
0:52:30 > 0:52:33- They are. And slightly raised here. - Must be to support the arches.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35- That's right.- You could stand up all day in that shoe.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37Yes. All about comfort, yes.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39So if you're the Queen's designer
0:52:39 > 0:52:42I imagine that this is a little bit constricting -
0:52:42 > 0:52:45is it difficult, is it a bit frustrating, do you think?
0:52:45 > 0:52:50I think so. She had a little by-line that said... She'd say to Hardy,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52"I don't want to look like the girl on the cover of Vogue",
0:52:52 > 0:52:54and by saying that she was saying to Hardy,
0:52:54 > 0:52:56"This is too fashionable for me."
0:52:57 > 0:53:00The Queen would never have become the clotheshorse
0:53:00 > 0:53:02that Hardy longed to dress,
0:53:02 > 0:53:06but instead she won respect by sticking to her style.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09By wearing the same sort of thing for 70 years,
0:53:09 > 0:53:11she has created a timeless look
0:53:11 > 0:53:14that's won praise from some of the greatest fashion arbiters.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18Miuccia Prada has said that the Queen
0:53:18 > 0:53:22is "simply one of the most elegant women in the world."
0:53:23 > 0:53:25Just as Queen Victoria commanded,
0:53:25 > 0:53:28recent royals have carefully stuck to the rules
0:53:28 > 0:53:31about not flirting too much with fashion.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33When a member of the royal family DID make the break
0:53:33 > 0:53:35and wear foreign fashion,
0:53:35 > 0:53:39it was only after the ending of her royal career,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41when the world witnessed the most glamorous
0:53:41 > 0:53:44and successful clothing sale in history.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46The Christie's New York charity auction
0:53:46 > 0:53:49of the royal wardrobe of Diana, Princess of Wales.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52Meredith, what were the circumstances
0:53:52 > 0:53:56of the auction of all of the dresses in 1997?
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Well, rather surprising ones - well, I was certainly very surprised
0:53:59 > 0:54:02because one sunny morning in September
0:54:02 > 0:54:05I was summoned to the man who was running Christie's at the time
0:54:05 > 0:54:07who said, "I want you to go down to Kensington Palace,
0:54:07 > 0:54:10"Princess Diana's decided to sell her wardrobe."
0:54:10 > 0:54:11And I said, "You must be joking."
0:54:11 > 0:54:14He said, "I'm not, but I think it's for charity.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16"Anyway, she's very excited, you'd better go and meet her."
0:54:16 > 0:54:19So I rang up, and a voice answered
0:54:19 > 0:54:21and it was Paul Burrell, the butler,
0:54:21 > 0:54:23I thought sounding rather kind of pompous.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25So off I went,
0:54:25 > 0:54:29and she explained her idea of
0:54:29 > 0:54:32lessening the load on her wardrobe
0:54:32 > 0:54:34by selling a lot of dresses for charity.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38Which was a bit of a show stopper, quite frankly,
0:54:38 > 0:54:40over a cup of coffee and a bickie.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43What do you think her motivation was for doing this?
0:54:44 > 0:54:47I think two things - first of all she'd seriously run out of space
0:54:47 > 0:54:49in her wardrobe, in her dressing room,
0:54:49 > 0:54:51but that's a sort of jokey answer.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55The serious answer was, you know, it was the end of one kind of life.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57She wasn't going to do state visits any more,
0:54:57 > 0:55:01she wasn't going to sort of open things, cut ribbons,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04and all of those sort of things could go.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07And the third reason I suspect
0:55:07 > 0:55:11was that she actually quite wanted to clamber into Chanel and Versace -
0:55:11 > 0:55:13she liked French and Italian clothes
0:55:13 > 0:55:15and she'd only ever been able to wear,
0:55:15 > 0:55:17quite rightly so, English clothes before that.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21How did you go about selecting these particular 80 lots?
0:55:22 > 0:55:24Well, it was a collaborative effort between me,
0:55:24 > 0:55:26the Princess, sometimes Prince William -
0:55:26 > 0:55:31who was often down from Eton for dentist's or whatever -
0:55:31 > 0:55:33the butler played a part...
0:55:33 > 0:55:35We used to have them on racks in the drawing room,
0:55:35 > 0:55:39and go through them and eliminate some of them.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41Prince William would say, "Mummy, you really can't sell that,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44"you've worn it a bit too much."
0:55:44 > 0:55:48And then the ones that we sort of selected had tags,
0:55:48 > 0:55:51Prince William was told how to tag things by the butler,
0:55:51 > 0:55:54so he busily tagged things.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56And we finally arrived at the sort of...
0:55:56 > 0:55:59we thought pretty much the balance.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02So we had some very grand dresses, and some not so grand dresses.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05Some things, you might say, were not for everybody,
0:56:05 > 0:56:09but for people who wanted to be princesses for a day, I guess.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13And the climax of the whole thing was...
0:56:13 > 0:56:14The first night, the sale
0:56:14 > 0:56:19and the climax was the lot before the end - lot 79,
0:56:19 > 0:56:22the...what I call the John Travolta dress
0:56:22 > 0:56:25that she danced with John Travolta in the White House,
0:56:25 > 0:56:28I think I've actually marked - X marks the spot.
0:56:28 > 0:56:29And it's a very famous...
0:56:29 > 0:56:33It was dark blue velvet, made by Victor Edelstein
0:56:33 > 0:56:35and she looked ravishing in it.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37And am I right in saying that at the time that it was sold
0:56:37 > 0:56:40it was the most expensive item of clothing ever?
0:56:40 > 0:56:42Yes, it was. I'll have to refresh my memory
0:56:42 > 0:56:47and it says here we sold it for £222,500,
0:56:47 > 0:56:48which is a lot of money.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51You wouldn't want to spill your baked beans down that, would you?
0:56:51 > 0:56:54No, she always said it's awful going to banquets,
0:56:54 > 0:56:56you're always worried about the chicken,
0:56:56 > 0:56:58because it's always in a sauce
0:56:58 > 0:57:00and you can't tuck a napkin in, can you, if you're
0:57:00 > 0:57:05sitting at a kind of state banquet? I did sympathise, I must say.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16This is just one of the 80 dresses from the sale,
0:57:16 > 0:57:22which made a total of £3,250,000.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25It's a green velvet halter neck evening dress
0:57:25 > 0:57:28with diamond buttons.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30And this and the rest made so much money,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33not because they're lovely dresses - which they are -
0:57:33 > 0:57:35but because they were royal,
0:57:35 > 0:57:37because Diana, Princess of Wales wore them herself.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41Her dresses were her personal statements,
0:57:41 > 0:57:43this is how she spoke to us.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45She even told one of her designers
0:57:45 > 0:57:48what went through her mind when she was picking an outfit.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53She would think, "What am I communicating if I wear this?"
0:57:54 > 0:57:56These words of Princess Diana's
0:57:56 > 0:58:00sum up the reason why the royal wardrobe throughout history
0:58:00 > 0:58:03has been so important.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05For each and every King and Queen, or Prince and Princess,
0:58:05 > 0:58:08there's been no such thing as an ordinary dress
0:58:08 > 0:58:10or a boring old pair of trousers.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12In the eyes of their people,
0:58:12 > 0:58:17every single outfit has always been seen as a statement.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Clothing has created their image, and helped determine
0:58:20 > 0:58:24whether they've been loved or loathed.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27For the royal family, one was,
0:58:27 > 0:58:30one is and one probably always will be
0:58:30 > 0:58:32what one wears.