Royal Wedding

This Week in London – Princess Eugenie’s wedding dress on show; Dorothea Manning; and, the impact of photographic reproductions explored…

by exploringlondon

• The wedding dress and tiara worn by Princess Eugenie at her wedding in October last year has gone on display in a new exhibition at Windsor Castle, just to the west of London. A Royal Wedding: HRH Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank also features groom Jack Brooksbank’s morning suit and the maid-of-honour outfit worn by Princess Beatrice of York. But the star is the wedding dress, designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, which features fabric interwoven with symbols including the White Rose of York. The exhibition also includes the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, lent by Queen Elizabeth II and on public display for the first time, Princess Eugenie’s diamond and emerald drop earrings – a wedding gift from the groom, a replica of the bridal bouquet, and the Zac Posen-designed evening gown worn by the princess for the reception. The display can be seen as part of visits to Windsor Castle until 22nd April. Admission charge applies. For more see www.rct.uk. PICTURE: Royal Collection Trust / © All Rights Reserved.

• The work of pioneering artist Dorothea Manning is the subject of a new exhibition at the Tate Modern on South Bank. Opened last week, Dorothea Tanning is organised in collaboration with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid and is the first large scale exhibition of her work for 25 years. It brings together some 100 works, a third of which are being shown in the UK for the first time, including ballet designs, stuffed textile sculptures, installations and large scale pieces. Highlights include the self-portrait Birthday (1942), Children’s Games (1942), Insomnias (1953), Etreinte (1969),Tango Lives (1970) and the room-sized installation Chambre 202, Hôtel du Pavot (1970-73). Runs until 9th June. Admission charge applies. For more see www.tate.org.uk.

• A new exhibition on the impact photographic reproduction had on illustrative art at the end of the 19th century has opened at the Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner. The Beardsley Generation looks at how a new generation of artists versed in process engraving replaced the craft wood engravers of the past and how the new technology led to an expansion in the production of illustrated books and periodicals. The work of Aubrey Beardsley, Charles Ricketts, Laurence Housman and the Robinson brothers will be on display in the form of original drawings, books and periodicals drawn from public and private collections. Runs until 19th May. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.heathrobinsonmuseum.org.

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LondonLife – Regent Street celebrates the Royal Wedding…

by exploringlondon

Union Jacks daub Regent Street in the West End in honour of the wedding in Windsor last weekend of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. PICTURE: Pete (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0/image cropped)

Keats’ love letter to be returned home; a royal wedding Oyster; youngest Spitfire pilot honored; and, The Cult of Beauty at the V&A

by exploringlondon

• A love letter Romantic poet John Keats wrote to his beloved Fanny Brown will be returned to the house in which it was written. Keats wrote the letter in 1820 while living next door to her at Wentworth House in Hampstead, north London – his home from 1818 to 1820 and the setting that inspired some of his most memorable poetry including Ode to a Nightingale. The City of London Corporation, who manage the house – now a museum known as Keats House, recently purchased the letter with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund for £80,000. They say it will now be returned to the house and displayed there. In the letter Keats wrote: “I shall Kiss your name and mine where your Lips have been – Lips! why should a poor prisoner as I am talk about such things.” He said his consolation was “in the certainty of your affection”. See www.keatshouse.cityoflondon.gov.uk.

• Amid the host of souvenirs and trinkets up for sale in the lead-up to the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton comes news of a unusual offering from Transport for London – a limited edition royal wedding Oyster card. The card, which will go on sale in the week leading up to the ceremony, features a portrait of the couple and their wedding date – 29th April, 2011. More than 750,000 of the cards will be offered for sale. The move is not without precedent – in 1981, a unique ticket was produced for the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana.

• Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum, the youngest Spitfire pilot to take part in the Battle of Britain, was granted the Freedom of the City of London at a ceremony at Guildhall last week. Wellum was just 18-years-old when he joined the RAF in August 1939. Serving in a frontline squadron, he flew many combat missions including dogfights during the Battle of Britain and was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

• On Now: The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in . Said to be the “most comprehensive” exhibition ever staged on the Aesthetic Movement in Britain, it brings together masterpieces in painting as well as sculpture, design, furniture, architecture, fashion and literature of the era and explores some of the key personalities  involved in the movement – from William Morris and Frederic Leighton through to James McNeil Whistler, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and Oscar Wilde. Organised in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the exhibition runs until 17th July. Tickets are £12 (concessions available). See www.vam.ac.uk.