When Princess Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at
Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947, the country paused to
witness a moment of hope and pageantry in an otherwise austere
post-war Britain. The ceremony, held at 11:30 am, drew huge public
attention, and the fascination did not end when the newlyweds
departed the Abbey. More than 2,500 wedding gifts were placed on
display at St James’s Palace, drawing vast crowds, while the
Princess’s wedding dress was also exhibited separately, becoming a
major attraction in its own right.
The gown, designed by Sir Norman Hartnell, had been chosen from
a selection he submitted only three months earlier, during a period
when rationing was still in force and every detail was scrutinised.
Its display underscored the extraordinary interest the public felt
in this royal wedding. Cinema newsreels showed the event to packed
audiences across the country, eager to share in a moment that felt
symbolic of national renewal.
Princess Elizabeth’s bridesmaids wore wreaths created by Jac Ltd
of London, combining white sheaves, lilies and London Pride in
satin and silver lame. The design choices were steeped in royal
precedent. More than a century earlier, Queen Victoria had sketched
her own bridesmaids’ dresses for her marriage in 1840, opting for
simple white gowns trimmed with rose garlands. That lineage of
tradition continued in 1947.
The bridesmaids carried bouquets of white roses, orchids, lilies
of the valley, gardenias, bouvardia and nerine, all supplied by
Moyses Stevens. The long-established florist, which today holds a
Royal Warrant, had only just reopened its Mayfair branch in 1948
after wartime closure.
Princess Elizabeth’s own bouquet was created by the Worshipful
Company of Gardeners and crafted by florist M. H. Longman. Made
from white cattleya, Odontoglossum and Cypripedium orchids, it also
included a sprig of myrtle grown from the original plant used in
the wedding bouquet of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter. This
tradition, passed down through generations, had also been part of
the bouquet carried by Princess Alexandra of Denmark for her
marriage to the future Edward VII in 1863. Guests at the wedding
breakfast were given posies of myrtle and Balmoral heather, a
symbolic gesture underscoring continuity and heritage.
The Princess’s tiara was equally steeped in royal history. She
wore Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara, a piece made in 1919 by E. Wolff
and Co for Garrard. Its origins lay in an earlier tiara owned by
Queen Victoria, later broken down and reimagined as a necklace that
could be worn as a diadem. Queen Mary had eventually gifted it to
Queen Elizabeth, who lent it to her daughter for the wedding day.
Princess Elizabeth also wore the Duchess of Teck’s earrings, given
to her at the start of 1947, and a pearl necklace said to have
belonged to Queen Anne or, in other accounts, Queen Caroline, both
gifts from her parents.
As had become custom following Queen Elizabeth’s example in
1923, the Princess sent her wedding bouquet back to Westminster
Abbey after the ceremony so it could be laid on the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier. A replica of that bouquet was later created for
the Queen’s Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1997.
Hartnell would go on to design some of the most significant
royal garments of the twentieth century, including the Queen’s
coronation gown, embroidered with thousands of pearls and crystals.
Yet the 1947 wedding dress remains one of his most celebrated
works. It contrasted with the famously simple gown he had produced
decades earlier for Queen Elizabeth’s own wedding, made of ivory
chiffon moire and dyed to match the antique veil lent by Queen
Mary.
The Princess’s wedding ring was fashioned from a nugget of Welsh
gold sourced from the Clogau St David’s mine, beginning a tradition
that would endure for the next generation of royal brides.
In a Britain still recovering from war, the wedding of Princess
Elizabeth brought with it a rare sense of joy and optimism.
Seventy-seven years on, the details of that day – from the heirloom
jewels to the myrtle sprigs and the quietly symbolic gestures –
remain a defining chapter in royal history.
