Queen's fashions to go on show at Holyrood Palace

The Queen's outfit she wore at the garden party in 2009 is to go on show. Picture: Royal Collection Trust

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, her official residence north of the border, will play host to the biggest ever exhibition of her clothes and accessories to be displayed in Scotland. The palace, at the foot of the Royal Mile, will be one of three royal residences to play host to specially-curated fashion shows this year.

The Edinburgh exhibition, which will open on the Queen’s birthday in April, will be the first to be staged before later shows at first Buckingham Palace and then Windsor Castle.

Some of the Queen’s favourite designers, including Sir Norman Hartnell, Ian Thomas and Stewart Pavin, an Edinburgh College of Art graduate, will have their outfits showcased in the state rooms at  Holyroodhouse.

Pale blue silk faille evening gown worn at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, during the State Visit of King Olav of Norway in 1962. Picture: Royal Collection Trust

Among the highlights of the exhibition will be an outfit worn at the Queen’s annual garden party in the grounds of the palace seven years ago and a silk evening dress chosen for a reception for the  Commonwealth Heads of Government there in 1997.

Visitors to “Fashioning a Reign” will also be able to see an evening gown worn by the Queen to a performance of Rob Roy at the Royal Lyceum Theatre during the state visit of King Olav of Norway to Edinburgh in 1962.

The exhibition, which will run from April 21 till October 16, will also feature outfits worn by the Queen during her childhood and before her coronation.

Caroline de Guitaut, curator of the exhibition, said: “We think it is going to be a fairly significant exhibition.

Pale green crinoline evening gown made of silk chiffon and lace embroidered with sequins, pearls, beads and diamante worn by Her Majesty TheÂ Queen in 1957 during her visit to the United States of America as a guest of President Eisenhower. Picture: Royal Collection Trust

“It will really connect our visitors to the Queen, will be a really fitting way to mark her birthday and will have a particular focus on Scottish events and also look at the use of tartan in royal dress, which will also let us to go back in time a little. The dresses are unique because they enable her to fulfil her duty in all those different roles she is required to undertake.

Mike Cantlay, chairman of national tourism agency VisitScotland, said: “Visitors continue to be fascinated by Scotland’s role in the history of the monarchy and our capital’s top attractions are testament to that popularity.”