Family wedding dress link revealed by Camilla at Zandra Rhodes exhibition
The Queen was in Bath for a visit to highlight the city’s arts and culture.
Queen Camilla has revealed her sister was dressed by fashion icon Dame Zandra Rhodes when she visited an exhibition celebrating the designer.
Camilla was given a guided tour of Bath’s Holburne Museum as she spent the day highlighting arts and culture in a city famed for its Roman baths, Georgian architecture and association with popular author Jane Austen.
The royal was also taken around an exhibition of memorable prints by photographer Sir Don McCullin, a good friend of Camilla’s late brother, who travelled the world capturing some of the images.
Zandra Rhodes: A Life in Print features a selection of the fashion designer’s screen-printed garments from the 1960s to 1980s displayed on vintage Adel Rootstein mannequins.
When curator Rosemary Harden took her royal guest around the exhibition, Camilla told her: “My sister had a wedding dress made by Zandra Rhodes.”
Rhodes is known for her trademark pink hair and bold colours and signature prints used in her designs.
She dressed Diana, Princess of Wales, in the early years of her life in the royal family and pop singer Freddie Mercury.
Camilla was shown the flowing dresses with their striking designs including a 1972 green silk chiffon outfit, printed with field of the lilies, worn by Bianca Jagger, daughter of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger.
The curator said later: “Dame Zandra is a printer, so her thing is that the print leads the dress, so it’s the yardage of the fabric which dictates the style of the dress.
“She’s rare in that most designers cut into cloth.
“She’s a genius with colour and pattern, and that is unique, everyone else goes with cut.”
Before leaving, Camilla toured an exhibition of prints by acclaimed photographer Sir Don who has documented numerous events from the Vietnam war to life on London’s streets and has now turned his lens to Roman sculptures.
He said afterwards: “I use my cameras the way I’d use my toothbrush – it’s just a tool. My real camera is my eyes and my emotion.”
The Queen later visited the Theatre Royal Bath to see a technical rehearsal for a community production of David Copperfield.
Camilla stepped onto the stage under the bright lights, entering through the stage left door and remarking “hello up there” as she spotted some of those involved sitting in the dress circle.
She heard how there were seven David Copperfields appearing in this production of the Charles Dickens novel, prompting her to remark “bags and bags of Davids”.
The Queen watched from the wings and clapped after seeing the prologue of the play, before posing for a group photograph with some of 100-strong cast on stage, where she held the hand of performer Helen Nowlan.
Helen, who plays Aunt Pandora in the show, clasped Camilla’s right hand as they stood next to each other and the two smiled as the actors shouted out “David Copperfield” in unison for the photoshoot.
The Queen, who has been patron of the theatre since 2008, heard how the five performances, beginning on February 20 and directed by Sally Cookson, feature an inclusive company of performers from the local area.
Camilla told Mei Yin Wolfe, who takes on the role of “Emily 2” in the show: “I wanted to see what you’re doing. I’m very impressed … So nobody knew anybody before they came here?
“You were all complete strangers and now you’re a community. It’s a lovely idea. It’s going to be thrilling on Friday – a big audience out there – terrifying.
“All I can do is wish you all the best of British luck”.
The Queen was also shown the location of the theatre’s new fourth venue and announced its name thanks to a royal unveiling with a difference.
Camilla pulled a golden cord on a mechanical toy theatre which triggered a secret mechanism to reveal a stage bearing the words “The Billings”.
Theatre Royal Bath’s director Danny Moar described the Queen as “our first royal flyman”.
A theatre flyman is a member of the technical crew responsible for operating the fly system set of ropes, pulleys and counterweights used to hoist and control scenery and curtains.
The Queen remarked: “I’ll try not to yank it.”
Inspecting the toy theatre afterwards she added: “I love this. It’s brilliant.” She pledged to return to see the new venue.
The Billings, due to be completed in 2027, will be a 40-seat community studio offering affordable access to the theatre in the city, connected to Theatre Royal Bath, The Egg children’s theatre and the Ustinov.
Camilla’s final stop was the popular Persephone Books, an independent publishers founded in 1999 that unearths publications by women’s authors, usually celebrated in their day but now forgotten.
Founded by Nicola Beauman and now run by her daughter Francesca Beauman
Camilla chatted books with the women who are in talks with her Queen’s Reading Room book club about featuring some of their titles.
The publications are known for their simple grey covers but a colourful inner page, and Nicola joked “When you say you can’t judge a book by its cover, that’s true for Persephone Books.”
