LONDON — The King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace will mount an exhibition from April 11 until Nov. 23 that will dissect the glamorous lives of two British royal couples: King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George V and Queen Mary.
“The Edwardians: Age of Elegance” will feature more than 300 items, half of which will be on display for the first time. The items will include pieces of fashion, jewelry, paintings, photographs, books, sculpture and ceramics.
The Edwardian era was a short period that began in 1901 and ended in 1914 with the start of World War I.
The Love Trophy collar from 1901.
Royal Collection Trust
The era had a strong impact on the arts and saw the rise of figures such as Carl Fabergé, Frederic Leighton, Edward Burne-Jones, Laurits Tuxen, John Singer Sargent, Olive Edis, Philip de László, William Morris, Oscar Wilde and Edward Elgar, whose works will included in the exhibition.
“The Edwardian era is seen as a golden age of style and glamour, which indeed it was, but there is so much more to discover beneath the surface. This was a period of transition, with Britain poised on the brink of the modern age and Europe edging towards war,” said curator Kathryn Jones.
Queen Victoria’s eldest son Albert Edward married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863 in the first wedding at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, which is where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wed in 2018.
Sir William Samuel Henry Llewellyn, “Queen Mary,” 1911-12.
Royal Collection Trust
Despite Edward’s mother still in mourning after the death of her husband Prince Albert, the young couple ushered in contemporary art, opulent balls and society events, which King George V and Queen Mary took charge of successfully.
Vogue called Princess Alexandra “the legitimate head of fashion throughout the British dominions.”
Princess Alexandra’s Dagmar necklace, a wedding gift from King Frederick VII of Denmark, will be displayed in the exhibition. The intricate necklace is made up of pearls, a diamond cluster and the Dagmar Cross, which were made detachable by the jeweler Garrard.
Alice Hughes, “Queen Alexandra when she was Princess of Wales,” c.1897.
Royal Collection Trust
The princess wore the complete set twice — once for the Waverley Ball in 1871, where she dressed as Mary, Queen of Scots, and again in 1902 for her coronation.
“Our royal couples lived lavish, sociable, fast-paced lives, embracing new trends and technologies. Yet in their collecting we also see a need to retain tradition and record the rapidly changing world around them, as if to preserve a fading way of life. The outbreak of World War I shattered their world, marking the end of an age and forever changing the face of monarchy,” said Jones.
Queen Mary’s Love Trophy collar necklace will be on display for the first time. The piece was made by Garrard in 1901 using diamonds borrowed from jewelry owned by her mother and aunt, Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Augusta of Cambridge.
Fabergé, cigarette case, 1908.
Royal Collection Trust
Other pieces in the exhibition will include a Cartier crystal pencil case set with diamonds and rubies and a blue enamel cigarette case featuring a diamond-encrusted snake biting its own tail from Fabergé.
The glamorous Edwardian age came to an end in 1914, four years into King George V’s reign. The British royal family turned their attention to collecting works that reflected the moment by acquiring wartime landscapes by Olive Edis, Britain’s first official female war photographer.
