Longleat Marks 450th Anniversary of Royal Visit With Exhibition

Sunday, 18 August 2024 05:55

A sumptuous gown worn by Dame Helen Mirren in the multiple Emmy award-winning TV mini-series Elizabeth I is on display at Longleat in Wiltshire, marking 450 years since the Queen visited the estate.

The costume display also includes the dress and coronation robes worn by Cate Blanchett in the 1998 film Elizabeth and a gown worn by Anita Dobson in the 2015 TV docudrama series Armada: 12 Days to Save England.

Longleat House was still being built when the Queen made Longleat a stop on one of her famous ‘progresses’ around her kingdom in September 1574.

The exhibition, which runs until 3 November, also features original documents connected to the historic visit, which was hailed a success despite initial resistance from then-owner Sir John Thynne, whose descendant, the 8^th Marquess of Bath, calls Longleat home today.

James Ford, Longleat’s Curator, said: “To mark 450 years since Elizabeth I visited Longleat, we thought it would be fun to display costumes worn to bring the Queen to life on the big and small screen.

“Not only does this provide an opportunity to see these prestigious pieces of film and TV history, but by displaying them in the Great Hall, Longleat’s only surviving Elizabethan interior, it gives a sense of how lavish the Queen’s visit on 2 September 1574 might have been,” he added.

For more information and to book, visit www.longleat.co.uk

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