A collection of national and international importance
The Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection is a Designated collection of national and international importance, cared for by Historic Royal Palaces. It contains 10,000 items of historic dress from the 16th century to the present day, providing information about the history of fashion, life at court, British ceremonial traditions, and the lives of key historical figures. Our collection contains items of clothing worn by royalty including George III, Queen Victoria, Princess Margaret, Diana, Princess of Wales and The Queen.
The collection was created in the early 1980s after Aubrey Bowden, an amateur historian, loaned Historic Royal Palaces a significant collection of court uniforms. In 1989, the collection was passed to Historic Royal Palaces, who have continued to expand and develop the collection, which also contains prints, sketches, historical photographs, letters, diaries and scrapbooks.
The collection is open by appointment for research and education purposes, based at Hampton Court Palace with a smaller selection at Kensington Palace. Advance booking is essential. To book an appointment, please email [email protected].
Arts Council England : Designation Scheme
The Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection is a Designated collection of national and international importance, cared for by Historic Royal Palaces.
Treasures from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection
New dress on display in the Jewel House
In May 2024, two new items from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection went on display in the Crown Jewels exhibition at the Tower of London.
Discover more
The Real Norman Hartnell: Beyond 'Silver and Gold'
The Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection has beautiful examples of Hartnell's clothes, designs and archives.
You can help
Conserving the palaces and our collections is expensive work and as an independent charity we receive no funding from the Government or the Crown. We depend on our visitors, members, donors, volunteers and sponsors to help us.
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