Royal christenings are amongst one of the highly-anticipated royal events of all time – with Prince George’s one in 2013 no different. The adorable young royal was born on July 22, 2013, with his christening held in October that year. When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s first child, Princess Victoria, was born in 1840, the couple had a special gown commissioned for her christening the following year. In total, 62 royal babies wore the exact gown for years to come.
The Honiton lace gown was made from Spitalfields silk – with Lady Louise Windsor being the last one to wear it in 2004. In 2008, a replica was made of the original gown for any future christenings – with George being amongst the first of the royal babies to wear the replica. Lady Louise’s brother, James, Earl of Wessex – who was born in December 2007 – first wore the new gown for his christening in 2008.
The task of making the replica fell onto Angela Kelly – who was the late Queen’s dressmaker and close friend.
In her book, The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, she revealed exactly how she created the gown.
Revealing that she found the material in Italy, she wrote: “Together, we sourced lace to complement that being made in Italy, and to make sure it looks authentic we dyed it in Yorkshire tea (the strongest, as we all know).
“We placed each piece of lace in a small bowl, from the Dressers’ kitchen, filled with cool water and a tea bag, and left it for about five minutes, checking regularly until the colour was perfect.”
Speaking of the process, which took about nine months, she added: “Her Majesty [the late Queen] was very interested to see how it was developing.”
The replica gown has also been worn by other royal children, including Princess Charlotte in 2015, Prince Louis in 2018 and Prince Archie in 2019.
The late Queen’s grandson Peter Phillips’ two daughters also wore the new gown – Savannah Phillips in 2011 and Isla Phillips in 2012.
