70 Side-By-Side Photos of Royal Outfits That Were Recreated on The Crown

While Princess Elizabeth (Claire Foy) waits for her engagement to be approved, she wears a mauve long sleeve dress with bow details. The dress depicted in The Crown's very first episode is a recreation of the dress Princess Elizabeth wore to announce her engagement to Prince Philip in 1947. In real-life, the arms were shorter and the fabric was a few shades lighter.

Not everything about Princess Elizabeth's wedding dress was the same. Her ivory satin gown had slightly different embroidery on the show and her lace-trimmed neckline was replaced with encrusted pearls, sequins, and diamonds. But don't think the show took the recreation of the iconic dress lightly: It took seven weeks to make and cost about $37,000.

Queen Elizabeth's solo tour of Kenya was a huge milestone for the young royal. For her arrival in Nairobi, Elizabeth wore a brown polka dot dress with a peplum waist. The show recreated the look exactly, down to the white handbag she carried.

The sudden death of her father, the King, occurred while Princess Elizabeth was on royal tour. The show depicts the sorrowing scene of her return with precision—from her pearl necklace to the diamond floral brooch on her lapel.

During the mourning period of King George, Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, and their mother were seen in black long sleeve mid-length dresses and thin black veils.

The Crown didn't stray from tradition for Queen Elizabeth's coronation. "We created all the dresses, the robes, the anointment gown, and it was just a huge task," costume designer Michele Clapton told Vanity Fair. "We had a work room with five or six people creating the principals’ costumes, and then various work rooms creating elements for the other dresses—embroidered pieces—just endless pieces."

For Prince Philip's coronation robe, the show continued to stay true to reality. Matt Smith donned a heavy red velvet and fur-trimmed robe, and the director captured the same angle that was shot in the real life footage.

The Crown delivers on some serious royal glamour moments. In season 1, Claire Foy wore a sparkling gown and fur stole that is reminiscent of an outfit worn by Queen Elizabeth to a premiere in 1954.

For a moment as historic as the Queen's first televised Christmas speech, The Crown replicated her gold lamé tea dress. The identical frock even featured cap sleeves and a knotted bodice like the original.

While both The Crown and the Queen's royal portrait dresses were elegant and regal, there were quite a few differences. Both were adorned with the monarch's sash and medals, but the show's lace design was much softer than Queen Elizabeth's satin embroidered gown.

In season 2, viewers see Princess Margaret posing for famous photographer Cecil Beaton in an off-the-shoulder tulle ball gown, embroidered with sequin butterflies. The recreation of the dress is impressive. However, the photo was taken in 1944, not in 1959 as the show's timeline suggests.

Princess Margaret's Norman Hartwell wedding dress was recreated almost to a T. Costume designer Jane Petrie said the dress was made in a rush in one week without even so much as a fitting in a 2019 interview.

During the buildup to Princess Margaret's wedding, one could have missed the nearly identical recreation of Queen Elizabeth's dress. The monarch is only shown briefly in her cerulean belted dress, which featured a lace bodice and taffeta full skirt.

The Queen Mother's wedding day outfit was drastically different. Actress Victoria Hamilton wore a brocade jacket with mink fur trimmings and a matching fur cap, but in real life the mother of the bride wore an off-white beaded gown with a white fur jacket and hat. The show's costume designer, Janie Petrie, told Vanity Fair, "More often we'd take the spirit of what's real and adapt it for the scene, working closely with the show's royal advisor, Major David Rankin-Hunt, who was on set all day to answer any questions about royal style and etiquette."

When the Kennedys visited Buckingham Palace in 1961, the royals welcomed them with a stylish reception. Queen Elizabeth donned a blue ruffled chiffon ball gown with velvet finishes and diamond and sapphire jewelry, which the show recreated nearly identically.

So much of the allure of Jackie Kennedy was wrapped up in her fashion choices, so her costume design for her season 2 appearance was extremely important. The show opted to stray from the sleeveless taffeta column gown the First Lady wore in 1961, but kept with a similar vibe and long white gloves.

Season 2 featured Queen Elizabeth's royal visit to Ghana in 1961. The trip was important for the monarch, as it was used to secure relations with the Commonwealth nation. The series stuck to Queen Elizabeth's scalloped lace sheath dress for the historic scene.

Queen Elizabeth donned a sleeveless satin ball gown with a two-toned cape when she danced with Ghana's President Kwame Nkrumah on royal tour. The show recreated the outfit almost seam by seam—minus the clunky purse she was holding while she danced in real life.

In season 2, the Queen invites Jackie Kennedy to lunch at Windsor Castle. For the show, the First Lady wore in a gray suit set and a pillbox cap, which seemed to have been inspired by a real outfit Jackie wore to visit the Queen for lunch in 1962.

The monarch was thrown into a crisis when the tragic disaster happened in Aberfan in 1966. When Queen Elizabeth visited the town, she wore a burnt orange coat dress, trimmed with mink fur and a mink cap, both on the show and in real life.