Other Royal Robes
The death of His Majesty King George V in January 1936 heralded a brief but turbulent period in royal history. Edward VIII became king, but just eleven months later he abdicated from the throne and was succeeded by his younger brother the Duke of York.
Throughout this time of change, Ede and Ravenscroft remained robemaker to the sovereign. While Edward VIII was never crowned, the firm once again brought its centuries of experience to the coronation of His Majesty King George VI and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on 12th May, 1937. As well as providing robes for the King and Queen, the firm also specially designed small robes for young Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret Rose.
Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on the death of her father on 6th February 1952.
In 1958 His Royal Highness Prince Charles was created Prince of Wales. At the time, the Queen pledged to the Welsh people that she would present him to them when he came of age. This she did nine years later, on 1st July, 1969 at Caernarvon.
As soon as the date for the investiture was announced, Ede and Ravenscroft set to work making a new robe for the event. A ledger entry describes the splendid robe as “of hand woven purple velvet trimmed with fleurs de lys embroidery all around including the train, ermine cape and collar fully lined with white silk and the inside facings of the robe lined with ermine”. Although the robe was similar to that of the previous Prince of Wales, even using the solid gold clasps from his robe, Ede and Ravenscroft gave it a modern touch. The fleurs de lys embroidery was sewn to a new design that closely resembled the Prince of Wales’ feathers.
