Just in time for the new year, the Royal Collection Trust has announced another major exhibition to accompany Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style, with another stylish queen on display.
The Royal Collection Trust announced that The Edwardians: Age of Elegance will be opening at The King’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse on 24 April 2026.
Originally staged at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, the exhibition explores the glamorous lives and legacies of Queen Alexandra, King Edward VI, Queen Mary, and King George V. Alexandra and Edward were considered taste-makers in their own right, and Mary and George continued on in their reign.
Both Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary were style icons in their own right. As Princess of Wales, Alexandra influenced women’s fashions across the west for several decades, while Mary’s unofficial collecting policy built a wildly impressive jewellery collection for the Royal Family.
Artist François Flameng’s sophisticated and opulent 1908 portrait of Queen Alexandra will be on display in the exhibition. Originally hung in the Crimson Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, but was moved to Buckingham Palace after the Second World War where it normally hangs in the White Drawing Room.
A portrait of Queen Mary by Welsh artist William Samuel Henry Llewellyn will also be on display in the exhibition for the first time ever. The two portraits will stand beside marble busts of their husbands.
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance will be open at The King’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse from 24 April to 6 December 2026.
