Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester: A life in royal fashion

During the 1930s, there were four royal sisters-in-law whose clothing choices were reported on eagerly by the press. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Between them, they set international trends and patronised some of the biggest names in fashion.

One of these big names was the British couturier Norman Hartnell, who would become one of Britain’s great royal image-makers. Even though he would famously dress all four women, his introduction to the royal family came about through a commission from one of the lesser-known members of the royal family – Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.

Here Project Assistant Curator, Victoria Haddock explores the Duchess of Gloucester’s fashion using examples that are on long-term loan from TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester in the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.

Princess Alice in evening wear and a fur cape next to movie starJean Simmons — *Image: Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester with Jean Simmons at the world premiere of the film 'Uncle Silas' at the Gaumont, Haymarket, London, 1947. © Historic Royal Palaces.*

Princess in waiting

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, was born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott on Christmas Day in 1901. Even though she grew up in aristocratic circles as the daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch, Alice’s future life in the public eye may have seemed unlikely.

Upon her engagement, she was described in Vogue as being 'very much of an outdoors person [who] does not like towns, crowds or publicity'. In her autobiography, Memories of Ninety Years, she writes about the ‘pointless and boring’ debutante balls which she was expected to attend as an upper-class young woman. She describes spending her own ‘miserable’ debut into society at a dance held at Windsor Castle, hiding behind a pillar ‘uncomfortably squeezed into a white satin frock’.

To escape the recurring debutante season, Alice found freedom in travel. She visited Kenya and India and caused a minor scandal by smuggling herself into Afghanistan, disguised in traditional Afghan dress.

Upon her return to Britain in 1935, she accepted a proposal of marriage from family friend Prince Henry, the third son of King George V and Queen Mary. Aged 34, Alice decided that she had had 'a good innings' and decided it was time to settle down.

Did you know?

Young women of aristocratic and upper-class families attended debutante balls to mark their formal 'debut' into society. These balls functioned as a way for young women to meet potential marriage partners from the same social circle.

Princess Alice’s wedding dress

As with all royal brides, there was intense curiosity surrounding Alice’s wedding dress. She recalled that a family member had been impressed with dresses ordered from Norman Hartnell, and after corresponding with the designer, visited his Bruton Street salon in Mayfair, London.

Hartnell would later write in his biography 'I did not realize at the time that Lady Alice's promised visit was to mark the turning point in my career.' Hartnell was commissioned to design not only the bride’s gown, but also those of the young bridesmaids, Princesses Elizabeth (the future Elizabeth II) and her younger sister Margaret.

I did not realize at the time that Lady Alice's promised visit was to mark the turning point in my career.

Norman Hartnell

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Princess Alice posing in her wedding dress and veil, holding a bouquet with white flowers

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A closer look at the dress

Hartnell created a simple wedding gown of pink pearl silk satin with long, close-fitting sleeves and a draped neckline held in place by a cluster of artificial orange-blossom.

In his autobiography, Silver and Gold, Hartnell described how his unusual choice of colour came about 'because of the dim lighting in the Abbey it was considered that the dress should not be in stark white'. The fact that the bride was also considered relatively old to be marrying, the colour may have also helped to present a more mature tone.

Image: Princess Alice taken by the pioneering photographer Madame Yevonde, whose Vivex colour process captured the pink pearl tone of the dress. © National Portrait Gallery, London.

A lavish wedding had been planned for 6 November 1935 at Westminster Abbey, but just weeks before the big day, Alice’s father passed away. As the groom’s father, George V, was also in ill health, the wedding was moved to the more modest venue of the private chapel at Buckingham Palace.

When the bride took to the famous palace balcony to wave to the crowds, her dress was hailed a masterpiece. She was also applauded for her choice of a floor-length tulle veil, rather than the traditional lace, held in place with an orange-blossom tiara.

The legacy of Princess Alice’s wedding dress was to last longer than Hartnell could have ever imagined. His successful introduction to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, then Duchess of York, who brought her two daughters to Bruton Street for their fittings, resulted in her becoming a loyal client. In 1940 she awarded Hartnell a Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to the Queen.

Hartnell would reminisce in his autobiography that he never envisioned that one of Princess Alice’s 'young bridesmaids was destined to be the Queen of England, and that I would have the honour of designing her Coronation robes'.

*Image: Orange blossom tiara worn by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, to her wedding. Royal Collection Trust / © The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.*

Royal life

Just a year after they married, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were thrust onto the royal stage when Prince Henry’s older brother, Edward VIII, chose to abdicate the throne and his second older brother became King George VI.

For the 1937 coronation, Princess Alice again turned to Norman Hartnell. He designed a cream satin gown ‘embroidered with feathers, each of which is decorated with pearls, crystals, diamonds and topazes’.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Princess Alice regularly made 'Best Dressed Lists'. She became known for her choice of hats, and dress and coat ensembles - consisting of a ‘loose fitting three-quarter coat with the wide wrist length sleeves’ that became known as 'The Gloucester Coat'.

*Image: Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester by Hay Wrightson, 12 May 1937. © National Portrait Gallery, London*

The Duchess of Gloucester is earning a reputation as a smart dresser in London which almost rivals that of the Duchess of Kent.

The Sun (Sydney, New South Wales), Monday 16 May 1938

Princess Alice also began to frequent some surprising designers for the third highest-ranking lady in the royal family. Just as we see today, royal women tend to wear British designers to promote home-grown fashion. The Duchess of Gloucester bent the rules slightly when she was photographed at the theatre in 1940 wearing an embroidered orange evening dress designed by the Italian surrealist designer Elsa Schiaparelli. This fabulous dress survives as part of the long-term loan from TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

Despite her private nature, Princess Alice took on many official roles that saw her travel the UK and Commonwealth. She became president of the Royal Academy of Music, Commandant of the St John's Ambulance Association, Colonel-in-Chief of several Army regiments and was appointed Air Chief Commandant of the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF). Alongside these roles, she also accompanied her husband to Australia when the Duke of Gloucester served as Governor-General between 1945-47.

Postwar style

With Norman Hartnell beginning to cater more to the younger generation of royals in the postwar period, the Duchess started to patronise other designers, including Ronald Paterson, Mark Luker, and the South African couturier, Victor Stiebel. Stiebel was a founding member of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers, that counted Hartnell, Hardy Amies, and Molyneux amongst its membership.

For the coronation of her niece Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the Duchess of Gloucester commissioned Victor Stiebel to design an ivory satin dress richly decorated with sequin and diamanté embroidery. From surviving garments on long-term loan from TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester in the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, we can see that in the 1950s and early 1960s she ordered several Stiebel evening gowns for important events.

Two of these; a gold silk gown worn to attend a state visit by General Charles de Gaulle in 1960, and a mauve polka dot tulle dress, were worn by the Duchess for a 1961 portrait sitting with the photographer Cecil Beaton.

Princess Alice remained an active working royal until 1999, when she retired from public duties at the grand age of 98. Her service to the crown was recognised in 1975 when she became the first woman to be appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.

Evening gown with detailed embroidery in a display case — *Image: Victor Stiebel gown worn by Princess Alice to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Now on display in the* *Jewel House* *at the Tower of London. Royal Collection Trust / © The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.*

The dresses today

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, was the longest-lived British royal before her death on 29 October 2004. The loan of the Duchess’ clothing to the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection offers us a glimpse into the style of a much-admired member of the Royal Family, whose patronage helped to promote the careers of some of the top couturiers of the 20th century.

Sources and further reading

Amy de la Haye & Edwina Ehrman (eds.), London Couture 1923-1975: British Luxury (London: V&A Publishing, 2015)

Michael Pick, Norman Hartnell: The Biography (London: Zuleika Books & Publishing, 2019)

Norman Hartnell, Silver and Gold: The autobiography of Norman Hartnell (London: V&A, 2019)

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, The Memoirs of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (London: Collins, 1983)

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, Memories of Ninety Years (London: Collins & Brown, 1991)