Skip to content

A look back at Red Deer’s brush with royalty

Red Deer museum exhibits ‘court’ attire worn by former city mayor
9322523_web1_IMG_9053
Some items associated with the queen’s coronation, on display at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery. (Photo by LANA MICHELIN/Advocate staff).

And they went to London to visit the queen…

The glamorous formal attire worn by former Red Deer Mayor Paul Crawford and his wife to Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 coronation can be seen at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery.

Melanie Berndt, the collections manager, said the Crawfords bought their outfits — a formal suit and satin beaded gown — in London, after their application to attend the queen’s crowning was approved by Buckingham Palace.

There’s a long list of specifications for “court dress” that the pair from the Commonwealth had to follow, which is also in the museum exhibit.

The Red Deer couple joined more than 8,000 dignitaries and citizens from around the globe in Westminster Abbey for the June 2 ceremony. But Berndt said 200 million people were able to watched the first televised coronation from their living rooms.

Some souvenirs from the event that the Crawfords and others donated to the museum are also part of the display, which is a “teaser” for a larger Glamour: Fashionable Red Deer exhibit, which will be showing on from Dec. 2 to March 11.



lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter