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Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Windsor Ramadan dinner and LGBT art event part of King's diversity drive
A Ramadan meal and an LGBT+ history month lecture at Windsor Castle this year have been hailed as exemplifying the King's 'momentous' commitment to diversity. The Royal Collection Trust – which oversees the upkeep of the royal palaces – said in its annual report, released on Tuesday, that 'inclusion and diversity was a key priority this year' as it hosted a series of religious and LGBT+ celebrations. For the first time in its 1,000-year history, Windsor Castle hosted an Open Iftar meal in its state apartments to mark the breaking of fast for Muslims during Ramadan. Last autumn, it hosted an inaugural Diwali Family Day including prayers from the head priest of the Slough Hindu Temple. The King's Gallery in Buckingham Palace also hosted its first event to mark LGBTQ+ History month in October, 'exploring some of the Queer figures represented within the Royal Collection'. Writing in the Royal Collection Trust report, Tim Knox, the director, said the Iftar meal had been held 'with the King's permission'. He said: 'Such momentous events, alongside initiatives including the £1 ticket offer at The King's Galleries, and its trial scheme at Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, go some way to achieving our aim of finding welcoming and inclusive ways for everyone to enjoy the collection. 'Our ambitions continue to grow with ongoing audience development and learning and community projects helping us to understand more about the audiences who don't currently visit our sites and how we can encourage them to do so.' The Iftar meal, in March, was organised in collaboration with the Ramadan Tent Project and saw 350 guests eat in St George's Hall, with two reciters from Maidenhead Mosque leading the call to prayer from the balcony of the hall. Simon Maples, the visitor operations director at Windsor Castle, said at the time that the King had been ' championing religious diversity and encouraging inter-faith conversation' for many years. Omar Salha, founder and chief executive of Ramadan Tent Project, added: 'The King is an excellent ambassador for this cause and is committed to community cohesion. We are incredibly grateful for his support towards the British Muslim community.' For LGBT+ history month, in February, the trust hosted an online lecture on 'Queer Art and Artists in the Royal Collection'. Alice de Quidt, assistant curator of Prints and Drawings, told the audience: 'Diverse forms of love and identity have always existed but they have all too often been left out of history or rewritten entirely. February gives us an opportunity to resurrect this history, bring it to the fore and celebrate it.' Among the artists picked out was Leonardo Da Vinci, who was accused of sexual acts with a male goldsmith's apprentice in 1476, though charges were later dropped. While same-sex relationships were common in 15th century Florence, they were not tolerated and sodomy was punishable by fine for the first four occasions and by death on the fifth. Accompanying literature also picked out Sappho, Michelangelo, Chevalier D'Eon, Rosa Bonheur, Oscar Wilde, and David Hockney for the trust's LGBTQ+ stories. The trust – an independently funded department of the Royal Household, which receives no public funds – is reliant on the income generated by visitor admissions and donations. Its income is spent on visitor access, retail, exhibitions, ongoing conservation of artworks and outreach programmes, including travel subsidies for schools. The trust recorded a total income of £89.9 million last year – an annual increase of more than £5m on the back of record visitors to Buckingham Palace. The trust's report said it had participated in a Royal Household-wide campaign to encourage the sharing of 'personal experiences of inclusion and diversity in the workplace', including 'training on inclusive leadership and recruitment'. Of the cohort offered a new seasonal role at Buckingham Palace last year, 45 per cent were from minority ethnic backgrounds.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Paris robbery prompts £3m insurance payout to Royal Collection
A dramatic daylight robbery at a museum in Paris last year has resulted in an insurance payment of over £3m to the Royal Collection Trust, after two royal items were stolen while on loan to an exhibition. The figure has been revealed in the Royal Collection Trust's annual accounts, showing the scale of the loss from the raid on the Cognacq-Jay Museum in Paris last smashed display cases and took items from an exhibition of 18th Century luxury miniature haul included two historic, richly-decorated snuff boxes on loan from the UK's Royal Collection. Media reports at the time of the robbery last year claimed there had been losses of around a million euros - but a figure of £3,020,000 is shown in the annual report of the Royal Collection Trust as an insurance receipt, outlining this is "in respect of snuff boxes stolen whilst on loan to the Musée Cognacq-Jay".The trust, a charity that looks after the paintings, sculptures, furniture and jewellery in the Royal Collection, says in the report published on Tuesday that the money "will be placed into a designated fund to be used for the enhancement of the collection".The two stolen items from the Royal Collection are believed to be a snuff box with a cameo of the Birth of Venus, thought to have been made in Germany in the 18th Century, and a Fabrique Royale snuff box, made in Germany in the 18th Century, and encrusted with nearly 3,000 Fabrique Royale box had belonged to the Russian royal family before being seized by the Soviet authorities in 1917. It was later bought in 1932 by Queen Mary, wife of George French newspaper Le Monde reported that the robbery had been perpetrated by four masked raiders who pulled up on scooters and then used an axe to break into display cases, in front of shocked visitors at the well as the stolen items on loan from the Royal Collection there were also exhibits from the Louvre museum and the Palace of Versailles in France. The trust's annual report also showed record numbers of visitors to Buckingham Palace last year during its summer were 683,000 visitors, with more of the Palace being opened to visitors and for an increasing number of days. The East Wing, which overlooks the Mall, has been renovated and opened to tourists for the first the biggest attraction remains Windsor Castle, which had almost 1.4 million visitors during there were 2.9m visitors to the royal palaces and exhibitions, with ticket sales contributing to an income of almost £90m, which produced profits of almost £ the ways of improving access this year has been £1 tickets for people on Universal Credit and a range of other benefits, with 19,500 of these tickets being sold in four months at Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
The Irish Sun
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Queen Elizabeth II's gowns including her wedding dress go on display to mark her 100th birthday
QUEEN Elizabeth II's wedding dress forms part of a majestic display of her outfits to mark the late monarch's 100th birthday. In the largest exhibition ever of her clothing, 200 items will go on show at 4 Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress has gone on display to mark the late monarch's 100th birthday Credit: PA 4 The Queen married Philip in 1947 in this Sir Norman Hartnell gown Credit: PA 4 A stunning evening gown worn by the Queen in 1956 is also on display Credit: PA 4 The Royal Collection cited evening wear as a 'vital component of the Queen's wardrobe' Credit: PA It will include dresses worn in every decade of her life before she As well as the one from her 1947 Caroline de Guitaut, exhibition curator and Surveyor of The King's Works of Art has also written an accompanying book, Queen Elizabeth II: Fashion and Style. She said: "Over the course of Queen Elizabeth II's remarkably long reign, her distinctive style became instantly recognisable around the world, bolstering the British fashion industry and influencing generations of designers and couturiers. read more on the queen "Only now, as the late Queen's fashion archive comes under the care of Royal Collection Trust, can we tell the story of a lifetime of thoughtful style choices - from her hands-on role and understanding of the soft power behind her clothing, to the exceptional craftsmanship behind each garment." "In the year that she would have turned 100-years-old, this exhibition will be a celebration of Queen Elizabeth's uniquely British style and her enduring fashion legacy." The Royal Collection cited evening wear as a "vital component of the Queen's wardrobe", with members of the public able to see "stunning examples that reflect the evolution of fashion trends throughout the Queen's long reign". Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style is at The King's Gallery from spring to autumn 2026, with tickets on sale this November. Most read in Royals Harry and Meghan made the Queen's last years a complete misery - they'll NEVER be forgiven
Scottish Sun
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Queen Elizabeth II's gowns including her wedding dress go on display to mark her 100th birthday
The Royal Collection cited evening wear as a 'vital component of the Queen's wardrobe' GOWN JEWELS Queen Elizabeth II's gowns including her wedding dress go on display to mark her 100th birthday Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) QUEEN Elizabeth II's wedding dress forms part of a majestic display of her outfits to mark the late monarch's 100th birthday. In the largest exhibition ever of her clothing, 200 items will go on show at Buckingham Palace — many for the first time. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress has gone on display to mark the late monarch's 100th birthday Credit: PA 4 The Queen married Philip in 1947 in this Sir Norman Hartnell gown Credit: PA 4 A stunning evening gown worn by the Queen in 1956 is also on display Credit: PA 4 The Royal Collection cited evening wear as a 'vital component of the Queen's wardrobe' Credit: PA It will include dresses worn in every decade of her life before she died aged 96 in 2022. As well as the one from her 1947 marriage to Philip, key pieces will be a bridesmaid outfit she wore at eight, her 1953 coronation dress and a range of evening gowns. Caroline de Guitaut, exhibition curator and Surveyor of The King's Works of Art has also written an accompanying book, Queen Elizabeth II: Fashion and Style. She said: "Over the course of Queen Elizabeth II's remarkably long reign, her distinctive style became instantly recognisable around the world, bolstering the British fashion industry and influencing generations of designers and couturiers. "Only now, as the late Queen's fashion archive comes under the care of Royal Collection Trust, can we tell the story of a lifetime of thoughtful style choices - from her hands-on role and understanding of the soft power behind her clothing, to the exceptional craftsmanship behind each garment." "In the year that she would have turned 100-years-old, this exhibition will be a celebration of Queen Elizabeth's uniquely British style and her enduring fashion legacy." The Royal Collection cited evening wear as a "vital component of the Queen's wardrobe", with members of the public able to see "stunning examples that reflect the evolution of fashion trends throughout the Queen's long reign". Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style is at The King's Gallery from spring to autumn 2026, with tickets on sale this November.
Rhyl Journal
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Largest ever exhibition of Queen Elizabeth II's fashion to go on show
Some 200 items, more than half on public display for the first time, will chart the story of the nation's longest reigning sovereign through outfits worn during all 10 decades of her life. The Queen's clothing, from birth to adulthood, from princess to queen, and from off-duty style to diplomatic dressing for the global stage will be explored at The King's Gallery in 2026 – the year she would have turned 100. Among the key pieces in the most comprehensive exhibition of the late Queen's fashion ever to be mounted will be a silver lame and tulle bridesmaid dress worn by Princess Elizabeth when she was eight-years-old, a trio of floaty, vibrantly printed Ian Thomas evening dresses from the 1970s, and the Queen's famous Sir Norman Hartnell wedding and coronation gowns. The exhibition will delve into Elizabeth II's use of diplomatically significant emblems and colours in her overseas tour wardrobes, including a white Hartnell gown designed for a 1961 State Banquet in Karachi, which incorporated Pakistan's national colours through a dramatic emerald-green pleat cascading down the back. Alongside clothing, jewellery, hats, shoes and accessories, visitors will see never-before-seen design sketches, fabric samples and handwritten correspondence revealing the behind-the-scenes process of dressing one of the most famous women in the world. The Queen's fashion archive is considered one of the largest and most important surviving collections of 20th-century British fashion and now forms part of the Royal Collection. The exhibition will also shed new light on the late Queen's close involvement in the creation of her wardrobe. Caroline de Guitaut, exhibition curator and Surveyor of The King's Works of Art who has written an accompanying book, Queen Elizabeth II: Fashion and Style, said: 'Over the course of Queen Elizabeth II's remarkably long reign, her distinctive style became instantly recognisable around the world, bolstering the British fashion industry and influencing generations of designers and couturiers. 'Only now, as the late Queen's fashion archive comes under the care of Royal Collection Trust, can we tell the story of a lifetime of thoughtful style choices – from her hands-on role and understanding of the soft power behind her clothing, to the exceptional craftsmanship behind each garment.' She added: 'In the year that she would have turned 100-years-old, this exhibition will be a celebration of Queen Elizabeth's uniquely British style and her enduring fashion legacy.' The bridesmaid dress by Edward Molyneux is one of the earliest surviving pieces of couture from the Queen's childhood wardrobe and was worn to the wedding of her uncle George, the Duke of Kent to Princess Marina of Greece in 1934. In the 1940s as British couture rose to prominence, Princess Elizabeth began working with Sir Norman, who became her most influential designer over the next three decades and was chosen to design her wedding dress in 1947 and her Coronation dress in 1953. The Royal Collection cited eveningwear as a 'vital component of the Queen's wardrobe', with members of the public able to see 'stunning examples that reflect the evolution of fashion trends throughout the Queen's long reign'. On show will be crinoline-skirted gowns from the 1950s by Sir Norman and Sir Hardy Amies, as well as outfits by Thomas, who began designing for the Queen in the 1970s and introduced softer silhouettes in chiffon and striking colours to her evening dress, channelling what the Royal Collection described as 'relaxed glamour'. Three of his floor length gowns – in bright orange, sunshine yellow and vivid blue – will be exhibited for the first time. The Queen's off duty wardrobe will also be a feature, with visitors able to view impeccably cut riding jackets, tartan skirts and silk headscarves among the never-before-displayed examples of the monarch's practical everyday style. The late Queen, who died in September 2022 at the age of 96, would have celebrated her 100th birthday on April 21 2026. Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style is at The King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, from spring to autumn 2026. Dates will be confirmed in due course and tickets will go on sale in November 2025.
