The Edwardian monarchs—King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and King George V and Queen Mary—are set to take the spotlight next year as the ‘age of elegance’ of Edwardian times is highlighted in a new exhibition from the Royal Collection Trust.
The fashionable lives of these monarchs and consorts will be on display, with everything “from their family lives and personal collecting to their glittering social circles, global travels and spectacular royal events” under the microscope, according to the Trust.
“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,” said the Trust’s curator Kathryn Jones.
Jones highlighted how old world and new were quickly coming to a collision and the world was on the brink of the First World War during the Edwardian time. “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.”
More than 300 items belonging to these Edwardian royals will go on display, many for the first time, comprising fashion and jewelry pieces, paintings and photographs, books and sculptures and ceramics.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, “Displays will evoke the fashionably cluttered interiors of the royal couples’ private residences at Marlborough House and Sandringham House, where decorative objects and family photographs covered every surface.”
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance will open at The King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace on 11 April 2025 and run through 23 November.
