When Princess Elizabeth was crowned monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1953, it was the first televised coronation ceremony, watched by millions in Britain and around the world. Netflix's lavish historical series The Crown, which debuted on Nov. 4, proposes to take television viewers even further into the royal household and its personal, romantic and political intrigue. Created by Peter Morgan, who wrote 2006 flick The Queen, season one's 10-episode arc covers the decade around the early married life and accession of Princess Elizabeth (played by Claire Foy) at the age of 25, with flashbacks from her childhood during the abdication crisis through to the 1956 Suez Crisis. Naturally, it also plumbs the depths of the royal closet.
Series costume designer Michele Clapton certainly knows her way around a crown. As the three-time Emmy-winning costume designer of Game of Thrones, her most recent headpiece for that series is Cersei Lannister's elaborate twisted silver confection, though it has nothing on The Crown's replica of the famed 1820 George IV diadem (fashioned in silver, gold, pearls and 1,333 diamonds) worn by Elizabeth at her coronation.
The glittering crown jewels on show are faithful replicas, as are the Queen's two most famous dresses, the pearl-encrusted ivory nuptial and coronation gowns; the latter is also embroidered with floral symbols of Great Britain and the Commonwealth (Canadian maple leaves are visible among the Irish shamrocks and Scottish thistle). Otherwise, Clapton takes creative license to realistically channel the period and the historical figures' personal style in spirit.
Michele Clapton, The Crown’s costume designer, captures the insouciance of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Even with a title like The Crown, the focus is on she who wears it (and "it" weighs five pounds, as her private secretary explains, "not to mention the symbolic weight"). Throughout the series, Clapton's costumes reflect aspects of Elizabeth's character and its evolution in the face of royal duty. One memorable scene in Kenya involves the Princess fixing the engine of an overheated jeep; her hair tousled, she wears a colourful striped shirt, baggy rolled-up dungarees and derby lace-ups, looking more like a land girl than a monarch. It's the last vestige of the truly carefree young newlywed Elizabeth, the one who spent the early years of her marriage in Malta carousing with friends in colourful floral circle skirts and bare-shouldered evening dresses.
In a wink to the vivid ensembles the Queen wears in public to stand out in a crowd, there's a fashion show sequence with royal couturier Norman Hartnell, where she chooses the 100 outfits required for Her Majesty's 23-week royal tour. It offers a taste of the same stealth sartorial diplomacy Kate Middleton deploys tidat; the details of which local flowers and colours worked into the garments depend on country, for example. In private Lilibet, as the Queen is known to close family and intimates, is simpler and subdued. In keeping with post-war mood and austerity (the clothing ration lasted until 1949), the series' overall palette for her is as muted as the palace interiors are oppressively gloomy. The colour most often in rotation is blue; Clapton dresses Elizabeth in 50 shades of the symbolically virtuous hue ranging from to pastels to navy, slate and kingfisher tones.
The lovelorn Princess Margaret.
The costume drama isn't limited to the Queen. Matt Smith, who appeared on Doctor Who, makes it easy to see the appeal of the swashbuckling young Prince Philip (the dashing royal consort accessorizes his flight suits and goggles with a silk foulard). Vivacious Princess Margaret (played by Vanessa Kirby) is far more chic than her prim older sister in the latest figure-hugging New Look styles by Christian Dior (even her pyjamas and dressing gowns are more opulent than anyone else on screen). Her only competition for attention is the Duke of Windsor played by Alex Jennings. Clapton and her team capture his haughty entitlement through soignée collars and impeccable fitted double-breasted suits. The formidable dowager Queen Mary still wears the high lace, diamond collets and pearl collars of her Edwardian heyday, with the Queen Mother in blowsy florals; in several ensemble scenes, extended family and dignitaries gather at weddings and galas, with all the fugly dresses and quivering millinery plumage expected of peerage pomp and circumstance.
The composed Princess Elizabeth.
On the occasion of the Queen's 90 th birthday earlier this year, the Royal Trust offered a glimpse into her real-life wardrobe with its Fashioning a Reign exhibition, which is on display at Windsor Castle until January 2017. It would seem that Queen Elizabeth has a bottomless closet, and as the longest-serving monarch in British history she is conservatively estimated to have worn 10,000 ensembles to date (considering her legendary frugality, that number includes many repeats). We'll be seeing more of these looks in future seasons of the series, which I hope will finally reveal the precise contents of Her Majesty's omnipresent black Launer handbag.