Queen Camilla revealed a unique family dress link during a royal engagement in Bath today.
The Queen, 78, paid a visit to the city’s historic Theatre Royal where she watched part of the technical rehearsal for the community production of David Copperfield.
She was also given a guided tour of Bath’s Holburne Museum and viewed an exhibition of memorable prints by renowned photographer Sir Don McCullin, who was a close friend of Camilla’s late brother Mark Shand, who passed away in 2014.
But as the Queen walked around Zandra Rhodes: A Life in Print with curator Rosemary Harden, Camilla even revealed that she has a unique close connection to the fashion powerhouse.
‘My sister had a wedding dress made by Zandra Rhodes,’ the royal candidly revealed.
Camilla’s sister, Annabel Elliot, wed the late Simon Elliot, a Dorset-based landowner and son of Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot, in 1972. The pair shared three children.
Yet this isn’t the only royal connection Rhodes, 85, holds. Indeed, the legendary British designer, renowned for her innovative ideas and bright hair, also dressed the late Princess Diana in the early years of her royal life.
The pair’s working relationship first began in 1981 when the royal entered her London boutique with Sarah Ferguson and browsed the shop like any other customers, despite Diana’s recent engagement to the then-Prince of Wales.
The Queen, 78, paid a visit to Bath’s historic Theatre Royal where she watched part of the technical rehearsal for the community production of David Copperfield
She also viewed an exhibition of memorable prints by renowned photographer Sir Don McCullin (pictured), who was a close friend of Camilla’s late brother Mark Shand, who passed away in 2014
As the Queen walked around Zandra Rhodes : A Life in Print with curator Rosemary Harden, Camilla even revealed that she has a unique close connection to the fashion powerhouse
After the two friends perused the racks, Zandra received an unexpected call – it came from British Vogue, which was asking her to submit a design for Diana’s royal wedding dress.
While Zandra’s black corset sketch never became the wedding royal dress, it did end up in the possession of perhaps the next most famous Diana – Diana Ross.
The pair then went on to work together five times before the princess’s death in August 1997.
During her visit to Bath today, Camilla was shown Rhodes’ 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 later shared: ‘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.’
At the Theatre Royal, Camilla spoke with some of the 100 participants across the region who are involved in the production and visited the unique studio theatre that is seeking to provide local people with greater access to performing arts at a lower cost.
‘My sister had a wedding dress made by Zandra Rhodes,’ the royal candidly revealed during her visit today (pictured)
Camilla was shown Rhodes’ 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
Pictured: Queen Camilla meets Helen Nolan during her visit to the Theatre Royal
Camilla was given a guided tour of Bath’s Holburne Museum and visited the recently completed Schroder Gallery (pictured speaking with Tim Schroder)
Clutching a bouquet of flowers, outside, she greeted well-wishers who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the royal, and was all smiles as she walked through the streets of the historic city
Pictured: Camilla greets members of the public in Bath today
In a bid to learn more about the city’s culture, the Queen also paid a visit to Persephone Books, an independent publisher and bookshop founded in the city of Bath
Clutching a bouquet of flowers, outside, she greeted well-wishers who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the royal, and was all smiles as she walked through the streets of the historic city.
In a bid to learn more about the city’s culture, the Queen also paid a visit to Persephone Books, an independent publisher and bookshop founded in the city of Bath.
A vision in white, she listened attentively to staff as she learnt about their literary work and its impact on the lives of those across the city.
It comes not long after Her Majesty opened the 200th now ‘Coronatinal Library’ for primary pupils in Camden, north London, a key part of the living legacy dedicated to Their Majesties’ accession to the throne.
Camilla, patron of the National Literacy Trust, has made the encouragement of reading a cornerstone of her public work and appeared delighted to see so many youngsters enthused by the new addition to Christ Church Primary School.
‘So you all enjoy reading then? How brilliant. And are you all budding librarians then?’ she asked pupil librarians from a number of local primary schools who were taking part in a classroom workshop.
‘Thank you so much for sharing your stories with me.’
The school visit, which came at a turbulent time for the Royal Family, marked the first Coronation Library to open in a school during the 2026 National Year of Reading, a Department of Educational and National Literacy Trust initiative.
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