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The Queen Mother and King George VI’s wedding took place on April 26, 1923, at Westminster Abbey, nearly 100 years ago. At the time the King was known as Prince Albert, Duke of York, and the Queen Mother was simply Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
Elizabeth’s wedding gown was created from ivory chiffon moire that was embellished with pearl and silver thread.
The intention was for the dress to coordinate with the Flanders lace that Queen Mary gifted the bride.
The Queen Mother’s outfit, which was very much in style in the early 1920s, was created by Queen Mary’s personal dressmaker, Madame Handley-Seymour. The finished result looked almost medieval in style.
Lady Elizabeth broke tradition at her royal wedding by shunning a popular jewellery trend.
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The Queen Mother opted not to wear a tiara and instead fastened her veil with a chaplet of leaves.
Royal brides often wear tiaras to show their status, as Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and the late Queen Elizabeth II all wore diadems at their nuptials.
Therefore, it was surprising that Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was marrying the son of a King and did not wear a tiara.
Her wedding dress had a piece of Strathmore family heritage Brussels lace stitched into it, as the bride’s “something old”.
Instead of the usual “something blue”, the Queen Mother had green and orange elements to her wedding attire.
She wore a silver leaf girdle, which featured some green tulle. The royal also wore an orange blossom wreath, as this contained the white roses of York.
As Elizabeth was marrying the Duke of York, this was a sweet gesture to her future husband.
Two trains were attached to the dress, one was connected at the hips and the other was suspended from the shoulders.
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Contrary to more recent royal wedding gowns in the 21st century, information about the Queen Mother’s dress was made public before the ceremony.
Elizabeth split her time between the wedding rehearsal and her dressmakers the day before the wedding, so the dress was finished at the very last moment.
An earlier design of the wedding dress was even bought at an auction for £3,500 in 2011, 12 years ago.
At the time of his marriage, Prince Albert held the senior service rank of group captain.
Therefore, he was dressed in full RAF regalia at the time of his royal wedding to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923.
According to the royal author John Ezard, the King proposed to the late Queen Mother back in 2021, but she denied his proposal.
This was because she was “afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to”, the author wrote in his book, A life of legend, duty and devotion.
The historian Elizabeth Longford later reported that it was in January 1923, when Elizabeth finally agreed to marry Prince Albert.
