Fashioning the Crown

A Story of Power and Couture

Justine Picardie

The fascinating story of a tumultuous half-century of British history as seen through royal fashion and image-making, taking the reader behind the glamour and mystique of the Crown.

Fashioning the Crown tells the story of a tumultuous half-century of British history through the lens of royal fashion and image-making. Informed by Justine Picardie's entirely original research in the Royal Archives, as well her own interactions with Elizabeth II and her family, it will reveal how, from the outbreak of the First World War to 1960, the soft power of clothing played a crucial role in helping the Royal Family, and the nation, to navigate seismic changes and challenges.

Justine will take us behind the glamor and mystique of the Crown, introducing us afresh to three generations of royals, including the glamorous Queen Mary; the Chanel-wearing young flapper who would become the Queen Mother; and the little Princess Lillibet, already setting fashion trends at the age of three. Justine will reveal the crucial importance of image-making in an era of abdications and assassinations, and amidst the rise of revolutions and fascism. She will also uncover the fascinating, little-known lives of the couturiers behind the clothes.

Figures like Hardy Amies, Edward Molyneux and Norman Hartnell had secrets that they kept in the shadows—from their sexuality, to their work in espionage—even as they dressed some of the most recognizable figures in the world. Fashioning the Crown will present a secretive institution in a captivating new light.

Justine Picardie is the author of several books, including her critically acclaimed memoir, If the Spirit Moves You: Life and Love After Death, and the international bestseller Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. She is a contributing editor to Harper’s Bazaar UK, having previously been its editor-in-chief. She was formerly an investigative journalist for The Sunday Times in London, a columnist for The Telegraph, editor of the Observer magazine, and features director of Vogue. Her most recent book, Miss Dior, was published to extensive critical acclaim. Justine lives in London.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Praise for Miss Dior: A Wartime Story of Courage and Couture:

“Remarkable.” Hamish Bowles, Vogue

"Picardie has written a moving and impressive history of wartime politics, death camps, postwar trials, collaboration and the invigorating world of haute couture. She gets much of her Ravensbrück material from victims who left records of their experiences and made small, heartbreaking drawings and gifts to keep their spirits up. Ms. Picardie is a sensitive, elegant writer." - Moira Hodgson, The Wall Street Journal

"Picardie has nearly unassailable fashion knowledge. She reconstructs with ease and confidence how fashion restored luxury to its French perch after the war." Ruth Peltason, Air Mail

“Extraordinary. The result is Netflix-worthy and the pace page-turning as Picardie presents a woman who appeals beyond the boundaries of Planet Fashion. Catherine’s story shines?the quiet Dior who preferred flowers to fashion, the unsung heroine who survived the abuse of the Third Reich to help liberate France.” Jack Annesley, The Sunday Times (London)

“The juxtaposition of terrible shadows and dazzling light is one of the great strengths of this book. A very personal, very passionate book.” Artemis Cooper, The Times Literary Supplement

“Catherine’s story is beautifully, hauntingly told in spare and elegant prose by Picardie. Awe-inspiring.” - Laura Freeman, The Times (London)

“Picardie’s book is of the moment . . . celebrating an unsung hero.” Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue

“Picardie taps Resistance archives and memoirs by Catherine's fellow resistants and unearths a wealth of archival photos in order to piece together her subject's experience. Miss Dior is an effulgent ode to the woman and her French Resistance compatriots.” Shelf Awareness

"Picardie interweaves a sensitive narrative of her search for Catherine as she follows the 'echoing footfall of a disappearing girl.' A well-informed rendering of dramatic times." Kirkus Reviews

“As subtle as it is fragrant, Justine Picardie’s book casts a strong spell that lingers.” Benjamin Taylor, author of Here We Are and The Hue and Cry at Our House

“Miss Dior portrays a woman who has too long stood hidden in the shadow of her famous brother, Christian. A fighter in the French Resistance, a survivor of the Ravensbrück death camp, and a creator of the rose gardens that inspired the fragrance Miss Dior, she is an inspiring, unforgettable figure, worthy of Picardie’s inspiring, unforgettable prose.” Caroline Weber, author of Proust's Duchess and Queen of Fashion