There is an intersting post on the website Royal Central about a discovery in a Herefordshire church. I have amended the text slightly:
A
richly embroidered altar cloth, which may be a remnant of a dress
belonging to Queen Elizabeth I herself, has been found in Bacton,
Herefordshire. Historians believe that Queen Elizabeth I could have
given the dress to one of her faithful servants, Blanche Parry. Blanche
Parry was born in Bacton. The
cloth was preserved for centuries in the small rural church of St
Faith's in Bacton and it has now been identified by experts as a piece
of a 16th century dress. Until very recently it hung in glass case on
the wall.
The
connection to the Virgin Queen has been rumoured for centuries. Tracy
Borman, a Historic Royal Palaces joint chief curator, has featured the
story in her new book, The Private Lives of the Tudors. It was not
uncommon for Queen Elizabeth I to pass on clothes she no longer wore,
due to her enormous wardrobe, and the theory is that it once formed part
of a court dress. It was made from cloth of silver, which was a high
status fabric which could only be worn by royalty or the highest members
of the aristocracy. It cannot be definitely confirmed that the dress
was worn by Queen Elizabeth I, but she is depicted wearing a very
similar fabric on the bodice of her dress in the Rainbow Portrait at Hatfield House.
Tracy
Borman said, "This is an incredible find - items of Tudor dress are
exceptionally rare in any case, but to uncover one with such a close
personal link to Queen Elizabeth I is almost unheard of. We're thrilled
to be working with St Faith's Church to conserve this remarkable object,
which will now be further examined by our conservation experts at
Hampton Court Palace, where we hope to be able to display it in future."
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