Council unveils coronation robe made with help from local schools

A total of 22 primary schools collaborated with Angela Turkington, a local textile artist from Whitehead who has vast experience in costume design, to create the colourful piece.

Pupils decorated colourful squares of fabric, with designs reflecting their local area, which were incorporated into the garment by Angela.

“My aim with this coronation robe was to create a piece that reflected the link between local communities and the Crown,” Angela said.

"Sourcing high quality materials, I have developed a design that has all the presence, language and symbolism associated with a royal coronation robe but also tells the story of the borough - the linen mill, the schools and the local environment.”

The robe consists of three distinct pieces: the robe body and front linen drapes, the circular cape and the long shoulder drape.

Some 32 metres of fabric were used in the construction of the robe.

The main fabric is velvet in rich royal red and royal navy blue, while the robe body is lined with a royal blue satin and the long drape is lined with fine white silk habotai.

A metre of fine white Irish linen was used for the front drapes, also lined with white silk habotai.

The robe incorporates some of the flowers of the borough including the flax flower, tulip, forget-me-not, rose, bluebell and cherry blossom.

The flax flower links to the making of linen, an aspect which has been given special significance in its use along the top of the shoulder drape as well as being placed at either side of the coronation logo itself.