Canada: Queen Elizabeth and a Vancouver Mulberry Tree

Linked by Michael Levenston

Angela Hoy received this card from Queen Elizabeth.

Angela’s parents were asked to make a trousseau for Princess Elizabeth’s wedding in 1947

City Farmer
Vancouver BC
July 26, 2022

Angela Hoy is a master gardener and a compost expert from England. On a visit to City Farmer in Vancouver, she discovered something about her family history that surprised her.

She knew that her parents, who owned a lingerie manufacturing company in England in the 1940’s, had been asked to make a silk negligee for Princess Elizabeth’s wedding to Prince Philip in 1947. They were requested to keep this secret for 50 years.

What Angela did not know was that the silk used was made in England by Lady Zoe Hart Dyke at Lullingstone Silk Farm, the only one in the country. She discovered this after seeing silkworm cocoons made by the silkworms fed on the leaves of a magnificent mulberry tree grown at Vancouver’s Compost Demonstration Garden and reading Lady Hart Dyke’s book, which is one of the rare books in the library at City Farmer.

One line connects Angela’s parents’ gift with Lullingstone.

“We received an an order for raw silk for H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth’s trousseau.” 1947.

Those words, and more research on her parents’ negligee business, prompted Angela to write to 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth to tell her the story of the silk negligee gift.

Below is Angela’s letter to the Queen. Her Majesty’s response, (the image at the beginning of this post), is somewhat of a disappointment as it is a generic ‘thank you’ card printed for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. However, in her defence, it is reported that Her Majesty receives over 70,000 letters a year.

In 1968, Angela’s mother made a similar negligee and night dress set for Angela on the occasion of her own wedding. She brought those to City Farmer’s garden. The photo below Angela’s letter displays the gowns.

Angela Hoy’s 2022 letter to Queen Elizabeth.

Her Majesty the Queen
Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA

May 5 2022

May it please Your Majesty,

I was born during the war in North London (April 1943) and lived in the UK for most of my life until 2017, when I moved to Vancouver, Canada, to be with my only daughter, who has lived here for 14 years.

I have recently been shown a booklet on the history of the Lullingstone Silk Farm at Lullingstone Castle in Eynsford, Kent, the UK’s first commercial silk farm, and learned that they were suppliers of silk to the Royal Family for many notable events, including coronation robes for HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. And a further order was received for the trousseau garments for Your Majesty’s wedding to HRH Prince Philip in 1947, and for the train of the wedding dress. I only learned about the production of the silk last week from the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden. Among the many wonderful things at this garden, including every type of composting device known to man, is a large mulberry tree, and Mike Levenston who runs the Garden on behalf of City of Vancouver, decided they should rear their own silkworms to make use of the leaves, and acquired the booklet mentioned above.

Apparently there was a great rush to produce the silk as the worms only spin at certain times of the year, and there was concern that the silk would not be reeled in time. However, in response to Lady Hart-Dyke’s enquiry, Messrs. G H Heath & Co. Ltd. in Macclesfield confirmed they would be able to spin the 20 lbs of silk yarn in ten days instead of a month. And this is where my family comes into the story. My parents, John Edward Clarke and Ruby Clarke, owned a business (J. E Clarke Lingerie Limited) that operated from premises in Wood Green, London N22. They were commissioned to make trousseau garments for Princess Elizabeth, but were requested to keep this confidential for fifty years. My mother, who personally designed and sewed the garments, told me about it when I was a teenager, and my father told my own daughter about it in 1997, 50 years after the event. Their factory closed in the 1970s and both my parents are now deceased; otherwise I would have loved to ask them for more details.

Another couple of coincidences, my mother made me a beautiful nightdress and negligee for my wedding in 1968 of pale blue silk satin appliqued with French lace, and a few years later I visited Treetops Hotel in Kenya where my husband and I stayed overnight (magical!), the place where Your majesty was informed She had become Queen. I also lived in Macclesfield (Silk Town) with my mother in the 1980s.

I would love to know if Your Majesty remembers this trousseau and enjoyed wearing it? I would greatly appreciate receiving confirmation of these events, if at all possible.

In closing, please accept my condolences for the tragic loss of HRH Prince Philip, and congratulations on achieving 70 years on the Throne, a remarkable achievement! I send my best wishes for Your Majesty’s good health, and I hope you will continue to be our Queen for many years to come.

I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty’s humble and obedient servant

Angela Hoy