The wedding dress of Princess Victoria Mary of Teck is the gown worn by the future Queen Mary at her

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

to Prince George, Duke of York (

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

from 1910 to 1936) on 6 July 1893 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London. The dress now belongs to the British

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

and is part of a collection of royal wedding dresses at

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official L ...

in London.

Background

Princess Mary of Teck wedding dress 1893 no2

In 1891, the bride's mother, the

Duchess of Teck Princess Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge (27 November 1833 – 27 October 1897), later Duchess of Teck, was a member of the British royal family. She was one of the first royals to patronise a wide range of charities. Mary Ade ...

, had declared that her daughter's wedding dress and those of her bridesmaids would be manufactured entirely in Britain. This was likely because the Duchess was president of the Ladies' National Silk Association. Upon the announcement of the engagement of Princess May (as she was usually known) to

Prince George, Duke of York George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

in the spring of 1893, Arthur Silver (of the

Silver Studio The Silver Studio was one of the most influential textile design studios in the UK from its formation in 1880 until the middle of the twentieth century. The studio, founded by Arthur Silver (1853–1896) designed some of the most famous fabric, w ...

), was approached to design the gown. Silver had designed the dress for Princess May's intended wedding to George's older brother,

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) and grandson of the re ...

, in 1892. This 'Lily of the Valley' creation had been made public just days before the Duke of Clarence's untimely death in January 1892 but had to be completely abandoned. The design chosen for the York-Teck wedding was 'The May Silks'; the dress would feature embroidery of the emblems of a

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

shamrock A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of ...

and

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

, and be trimmed with the traditional orange blossom and true lovers knots. Silver, renowned for his Art Nouveau designs, was also said to be much influenced by Japanese art in his design. In March 1893, the Duchess and Princess visited the Warner & Sons' factory at Hollybush Gardens in

Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and commissioned them to make the finest white silk with silver thread by Albert Parchment in time for the July wedding.

Design

Princess Mary of Teck wedding dress 1893

The dress itself was put together by Linton and Curtis of

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he received ...

. The front of the dress was made of white satin, featuring three small flounces old

Honiton lace Honiton lace is a type of bobbin lace made in Honiton, Devon, in the United Kingdom. Historical Honiton lace designs focused on scrollwork and depictions of natural objects such as flowers and leaves. Characteristics Honiton lace is a part l ...

which had been used on the wedding dress of her mother. The bodice, cut at the throat, was long and pointed and was made of Silver's white and silver brocade, also featuring a small amount of her mother's Honiton lace near the top and on the upper part of the sleeve. The rich satin manteau de cour fell from her shoulders. The train was long and plain (although ''The Times'' reported there was none) and the veil of her mother's which she wore was also made of Honiton lace, fastened by diamond pins given as a gift from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. Matching the orange blossom elements to the dress, small wreaths were placed around the bust and on the hair. Princess Mary completed the wedding outfit with a diamond

tiara A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...

from Queen Victoria; a diamond rivière necklace from the Prince and Princess of Wales and diamond earrings and anchor brooch, a wedding gift from Prince George. Out of all of the wedding toilette, the veil was reportedly the only piece that was not worn again after the wedding. The official painters of the royal wedding were

Heinrich von Angeli Heinrich Anton von Angeli (July 8, 1840, – October 21, 1925) was an Austrian historian and portrait painter. Life The Angeli family was originally from Venice and was ennobled by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, Maxim ...

Laurits Tuxen Laurits Regner Tuxen (9 December 1853 – 21 November 1927) was a Danish painter and sculptor specialising in figure painting. He was also associated with the Skagen Painters. He was the first head of Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler, an art school ...

, and

Luke Fildes __NOTOC__ Sir Samuel Luke Fildes (3 October 1843 – 28 February 1927) was a British painter and illustrator born in Liverpool and trained at the South Kensington and Royal Academy Schools. He was the grandson of the political activist Mar ...

References

External links

BBC audio slideshow featuring her wedding dress
(outdated) {{Mary of Teck

Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...

British royal attire 1890s fashion Mary of Teck, Wedding Mary of Teck

Background

Design

See also

References

External links