Unexpected method used to recreate priceless royal item for George, Charlotte and Louis

Royal christenings are highly-anticipated celebrations which are full of conventions dating back centuries.

From 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, there are a number of historical family customs to take account of.

But there is one family tradition that dates back to the earliest years of Queen Victoria's reign that the late Queen was able to put her own stamp on.

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 late Queen, King 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 the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh'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 the late Queen's dressmaker and close friend Angela Kelly who revealed exactly how she did it in her eye-opening 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 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."

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, Earl of Wessex, 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 Prince Archie.

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