The Royals Queen Elizabeth II: 60 Years of Style

As Britain’s monarch celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, we take a look back at her most memorable fashion moments during her six-decade reign

STILL STYLISH AFTER 60

The Queen’s official Diamond Jubilee portrait recalls her wedding portrait with Prince Philip from 65 years ago. Wearing a white silk and silver sequin dress by Angela Kelly and the State Diadem crown – as well as Queen Victoria’s Collet Necklace – she looks elegant, regal and ready to celebrate her major milestone.

For her Westminster Abbey wedding to Prince Philip in 1947, the 21-year-old princess wore a Norman Hartnell dress with a sweetheart neckline, full sleeves and flowing A-line skirt embroidered with pearls. Though she, like all Britons, had to use ration coupons in post-war Britain to buy the material for her dress, she upped the glamour quotient with her stunning tiara.

A year after her father passed away in February 1952, Elizabeth ascended to the throne in another silk Norman Hartnell gown, lavishly embroidered with emblems of the British Empire. During the ceremony she received “the four symbols of authority” (the orb, the scepter, the rod of mercy and the royal ring of sapphire and rubies), and St. Edward’s Crown was placed on her head to complete her formal attire.

In addition to her royal duties, the Queen also served another important role: mother to four children. While posing with 9-year-old Princess Anne in 1959, she swapped her regal finery for a floral A-line skirt suit and simple black pumps.

Known for her fabulous collection of hats, the Queen was spotted in much simpler headgear while feting her Silver Jubilee in 1977. She wore a colorful print scarf, paired with a sensible white sheath, low-heeled pumps and trademark pearls and a brooch during a celebration in Fiji.

Before William and Kate’s stylish royal Canadian tour, the Queen visited our neighbors to the north in 1984 wearing an ’80s drop-waist white satin dress with look-at-me sleeves and a major crown.

She has long favored blues and pastel shades, but the Queen remained on top of trends by embracing the era’s power suits. She wore a strong-shouldered, lipstick-red dress-and-jacket ensemble, complete with a matching pillbox and a bold gold brooch, for a London outing in 1989.

Though Diana would divorce Charles only two years later, in 1994 she and the Queen presented a unified front at a London event, both wearing pretty lilac skirt suits with coordinating over-the-top toppers.

To commemorate her 60th year on the throne, the Queen kicked off her Diamond Jubilee celebration in London with the Duchess of Cambridge in coordinating jewel-tone ensembles with black accents.