Here are more photos of the Princess of Wales’s event on Tuesday, her first in two and a half weeks. She visited the new “V&A East Storehouse,” which is like a gritty and industrial version of the Victoria & Albert Museum (of which Kate is a patron). Basically, the V&A Museum decided to open up a second quasi-museum space where people can see and have access to all of the art and archival pieces in the museum’s extensive storage. I actually find this really cool, I can’t lie. Apparently, if you make arrangements ahead of time, you can have specific pieces pulled out of storage and you can study those pieces in a semi-private space. Kate did just that – she asked for certain items to be pulled, and she got to see them up-close and personal.
The Princess of Wales has tried out the “Uber” service of the museum world, ordering items that she is personally interested in from the new V&A. The Princess, visiting V&A East Storehouse on Tuesday, requested five objects including a musical instrument, some William Morris fabric samples and “items relating to nature”.
The service, which is available to any visiting member of the public, allows people to view items that they would otherwise not have access to. The new museum, which was nicknamed the “nation’s Victorian attic” by one art critic, includes 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and 1,000 special archives, with displays designed to reduce barriers and glass cabinets. It puts items that would otherwise be in storage on public display.
The Princess called the concept of the storehouse a “fantastic idea”. Although the V&A website warns visitors that they may wish to wear flat shoes because of the metal grid flooring, the Princess made her way around successfully wearing heels.
She said: “What an opportunity for everyone to see these historic pieces in first person. It’s so eclectic. And all parts of the process of displaying and curating.”
The Princess was shown items including a small ballet slipper, an Alexander McQueen dress and the world’s largest Picasso work. The picture, which the Princess stood in front of, is a copy of the original 1922 painting Two Women Running on the Beach, created by another artist but which so impressed Picasso that he later signed it personally, making it authentic in the eyes of the art world.
William Morris fabric? That’s interesting. It’s basically asking to see vintage chintz. I chuckled at “items relating to nature.” That’s how you know Kate’s request list was curated by her staff – they were like “let’s ask to see anything related to the Early Years OR nature!”
Anyway, I have some additional details about Kate’s look. The Telegraph mentioned that Kate wore heels, even though this storehouse/museum recommends that women absolutely avoid wearing heels and even kitten heels. It’s something to do with “the metal grid flooring.” Kate also paired her repeat McQueen suit with her Laura Lombardi necklace and Carousel Jewels earrings. The necklace looks like something Kamala Harris would wear, but the earrings are very… 1980s clip-ons.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red,Backgrid.
