20th May 2016
An altar cloth has been identified as made from a very rare late sixteenth century skirt panel – possibly owned by Elizabeth I herself. It's beautifully (and extremely expensively) embroidered and made of cloth of silver – limited by the sumptuary laws of the time to royalty and the upper aristocracy. Its origins in a skirt are indicated by seams at the back. The cloth has belonged to a small church in Bacton, the birthplace of Elizabeth's longest-serving lady-in-waiting Blanche Parry, for centuries. Blanche served Elizabeth for 57 years, from the princess's babyhood to her own death, staying unmarried like her royal mistress. She received many gifts of clothing from Elizabeth and has a monument in Bacton's church – it's certainly possible that she would have given them one of the queen's discarded dresses to be repurposed. The fabric even resembles Elizabeth's dress in the famous Rainbow Portrait at Hatfield House, so it was to her taste. There are no known surviving pieces of Elizabeth's dresses – if this was hers then it is the only one.
A video by Historic Royal Palaces showing the cloth and explaining their identification: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD1Fy1WGqLk
The Press Release: http://www.hrp.org.uk/news-and-media/press-resources/historic-royal-palaces-press-releases-and-archives/sunday-best-altar-cloth-or-elizabeth-i-s-dress/
Image: The Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I, Hatfield House