Baby coat worn by Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II wore this pink silk coat in about 1927 when she was about 18 months old.

She was photographed wearing the coat with a matching bonnet travelling in an open-topped carriage on the knee of her nanny Clara Knight. Knight was known affectionately as 'Allah', a child's pronunciation of 'Clara'. Clara had previously worked as a nanny to Elizabeth's mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and her siblings at Glamis Castle, Scotland. The coat was given to Knight as a gift and was then passed down through her family.

The coat is made of a light pink coloured silk, and must have been intended for 'dressing for best' rather than playing in. It is gathered and pleated at the waist, the large collar and cuffs are decorated with embroidery along the edges, and it fastens with mother of pearl buttons. The original bonnet is lost, and the coat is now accompanied by a replica bonnet.