Queen Elizabeth’s Most Striking Ballgowns Are Now on Display in New Exhibit

Victoria MurphyThu, April 9, 2026 at 3:06 PM UTC

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Queen Elizabeth’s Ballgowns on DisplayTristan Fewings - Getty Images

There is a wall of more than 50 hats. There are headscarves, handbags, and a double-height rainbow display of daywear. Of course, her iconic wedding dress takes pride of place, and so does her historical christening gown and constitutionally significant Coronation dress. And at the center of it all is a striking display of glittering evening gowns that remind us just how much the late Queen Elizabeth really was the star of the show.

Exhibit Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style opens to the public at the Buckingham Palace King’s Gallery on April 10 to mark the centenary of her birth. T&C was given an early look at this landmark exhibition that showcases more than 300 items from the late Queen’s wardrobe, more than half of which are on display for the first time.

A display of hats, shoes, and accessories worn by Queen Elizabeth II.Tristan Fewings - Getty Images

“She had a definite sense of what suited her, she absolutely knew how she wanted to appear,” exhibition curator Caroline de Guitaut said. Yet at the same time, Guitaut added, the late Queen “wanted to embrace whatever the prevailing style of the time was.”

This duality is exemplified by the items carefully chosen for the exhibit out of the vast collection of clothing and accessories now under the care of the Royal Collection following Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022. Her signature block colors, her repeated use of fashion as a diplomatic tool through color and motif, and her trademark off-duty tweeds and riding clothes all feature. There is a small range of jewelry, specifically chosen for being personal to her.

Queen Elizabeth’s coronation gown.Tristan Fewings - Getty Images

We are reminded that Elizabeth’s relationship with fashion was cultivated in childhood with a display of princess party dresses. This includes a 1935 bridesmaid’s dress—the first couture piece designed for her by Norman Hartnell, who later famously designed both her wedding and Coronation dresses. The exhibit also features one notable item not worn by the Queen but that is very much part of her fashion story—the dress Angela Kelly designed for the Queen's stunt double who parachuted into the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. It is on display next to the identical one the Queen wore for filming.

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But it is the statement evening dresses that were created for some of Queen Elizabeth’s most glamorous moments that really take your breath away. The tone is set for this at the start of the exhibit, which opens with a rare surviving gold lamé Norman Hartnell ballgown from her first ever Commonwealth tour as monarch in 1953-54. Later, a stunning blue gown is shown which was tailored to allow for pregnancy in 1948-50. And eventually, visitors come face-to-face with a central podium of evening dresses showcasing the fashions of different decades, with full 1950s dresses next to the much slimmer silhouettes of the 1960s and beyond. In the same room are some of the many iconic gowns Elizabeth wore to state visits, including a Hartnell “cherry blossom” dress she wore in Japan in 1975, and the famous Angela Kelly gown she chose for her 2011 Ireland visit embellished with shamrocks.

A display of color-blocked day wear worn by Queen Elizabeth throughout her life.Tristan Fewings - Getty Images

The iconic black evening gown the Queen wore to greet Marilyn Monroe in 1956 is on display. Another notable dress that is given its own moment is the Hartnell gown she chose to meet President Eisenhower in 1957.

No exhibition of Queen Elizabeth’s fashion would be complete without hats—and a wall of hats shows off her endless variety headwear. As the Royal Collection describes it, there is everything “from the turbans and berets of the 1960s and 70s to the sculptural ‘flying saucers’ of the 1980s and 90s.”

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style is at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, from April 10 to October 18, 2026.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”