How Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Dress Featured Secret Good Luck Charm

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fashion designer inserted a special good luck charm into his design for her coronation dress, discreetly placed so she could touch it throughout the ceremony, a royal fashion expert has highlighted.

The build up to the coronation of Elizabeth's son, King Charles III, is in full swing in Britain with the ceremony planned to take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

The late queen's coronation took place in 1953, 70-years ago, and her outfit for the important and solemn ceremony dominated fashion magazines and newspaper coverage around the world.

Celebrity stylist and royal fashion expert Miranda Holder discussed the design in a viral TikTok video that has gained in excess of 200,000 views, highlighting the luck charm incorporated by Sir Norman Hartnell.

Hartnell was entrusted by the queen with the design of her coronation dress as he had dressed her for the most significant event of her life up until that point, her wedding day.

The designer was a firm favorite of both Queen Elizabeth and all the female members of her family, having first been commissioned to design the wedding dress of her aunt, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, in 1935.

"The queen's coronation dress was undoubtedly the most important dress she would ever wear in her lifetime, and it was indeed a beautiful work of art," Holder told Newsweek.

"Painstakingly made by her couturier and confidant Sir Norman Hartnell, the historic garment took 8 months to conceive and construct, and is regarded today as one of the most important examples of twentieth century fashion design.

"The garment itself is utterly regal and magnificent without being at all ostentatious or gaudy. Consisting of the finest duchesse satin tailored into the Dior - inspired fit and flare design, which was the height of fashion at the time, the dress featured gold and silver embroidery at the Queen's specific request, which was laid out in three scalloped tiers, bordered with seed pearls and diamantés, bearing not only the emblems of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales but also the Commonwealth too."

Hartnell, Holder explained, submitted a number designs for the 27-year-old monarch to choose from. The eighth was selected, with slight modifications.

"There was one additional flourish which Hartnell secretly added to his masterpiece, without the Queen ever knowing until her big day," she noted, going on to explain that the designer added his own special good luck symbol into the dress' design.

"The couturier embroidered an extra detail onto the gown in the form of an exquisite four-leafed clover, a symbol of good luck and a demonstration of his devotion and admiration for the monarch," she continued. "The Symbol was placed exactly where the sovereign's left hand would rest during the ceremony so Queen Elizabeth would literally touch it for the most auspicious outcome."

The monarch was very pleased with the overall effect of her coronation dress and told Hartnell that it was "glorious." She considered it such an important design that she wore it again to the state openings of parliament during her Commonwealth tour in the months after the ceremony, where it was kept in its own cabin aboard the ship taking them from port to port.

Today, the coronation dress is part of the Royal Collection and has been exhibited on a number of occasions, most recently at Windsor Castle in 2022 to mark the late queen's Platinum Jubilee.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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