Rediscovering Queen Alexandra’s Wardrobe: The Challenges and Rewards of Object-Based Research

Abstract

Alexandra, born a princess of Denmark, married Queen Victoria’s eldest son Edward, prince of Wales, in 1863. She became an iconic princess of Wales whose position was central to the reinvigoration of the British monarchy in the second half of the nineteenth century. She was not permitted a public voice and so used dress instead as a means of controlling perceptions of her royal self. Aware of the growing influence of the media, Alexandra was able to maintain immense popularity, arguably through the positive image generated through her physical appearance. This article, part of a wider study into the clothing practices of Alexandra of Denmark, takes three prominent surviving garments from her wardrobe and applies an object-based methodology to life writing, offering a biography of both the person and the clothes she inhabited. This multi-disciplinarity between object and text creates a discourse that highlights both the value of material culture but also the challenges faced for the researcher in this context.