Royal christening gowns were dyed with Yorkshire Tea

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Christenings in the Royal Family have always been enormous events and cause for celebration among keen fans. Across the decades, the ceremonies have been held in various locations, such as in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace or in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace. The day is full of traditions including the ceremony being carried out by the Archbishop of Canterbury to the royal baby being christened in front of the Lily Font with water from the River Jordan.

However, there is one family custom that dates back to the first years of Queen Victoria’s reign.

When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s first child, Princess Victoria, was born in 1840, the couple had a special christening gown commissioned for her christening the following year.

The Honiton lace gown was made from Spitalfields silk and was worn by every royal baby, including the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William.

However, the delicate condition of the artefact resulted in a replica being created in 2008 using the most unique method.

The original dress was worn by 62 royal babies across 163 years, with Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex’s daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, being the last to wear it at her christening in 2004.

After this event, the Queen decided the time had come to enter the delicate artefact into conservation and have a replica made for future christenings.

The important task fell to Her Majesty’s dressmaker and close friend Angela Kelly.

She outlined exactly how she did it in her book ‘The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe’.

Along with dresser Barbara Buckfield, Angela travelled to Italy to find the perfect lace material for the new gown while she carried the priceless original in her handbag.

She wrote: “Together, we sourced lace to complement that being made in Italy, and to make sure it looks authentic we dyed it in Yorkshire tea (the strongest, as we all know).

“We placed each piece of lace in a small bowl, from the Dressers’ kitchen, filled with cool water and a tea bag, and left it for about five minutes, checking regularly until the colour was perfect.”

According to the hosts of the podcast Royally Obsessed, Roberta Fiorito and Rachel Bowie, Yorkshire tea was founded in 1886, and was chosen by Angela Kelly because it was “the strongest” brand of tea to make the gown look “authentic” and “aged”.

The hosts also said that you can purchase 80 bags of Yorkshire tea for just £3.

Angela showed the Queen the gown at each stage of the process, which took about nine months.

She said: “Her Majesty was very interested to see how it was developing.”

Lady Louise Windsor’s brother, James, Viscount Severn, was the first royal baby to wear the replica of the gown in 2008. 

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all wore the replica at their christenings in 2013, 2015 and 2018 respectively.

The gown has also been worn by everyone from Savannah and Isla Phillips to Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

The christening gown is not the only vintage item that Angela Kelly has been given the honour to alter.

For Princess Beatrice’s wedding in 2020, she wore one of the Queen’s dresses that Kelly adapted for the big day.

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