The Duke of York,
later King George V (1865-1936),
as
"The Queen's Champion"
and
the Duchess of York,
later Queen Mary (1867-1953),
as
"a Lady at the Court of Marguerite de Valois"

Married in 1895, George became heir to the throne upon the death of his brother the Duke of Clarence in 1892. Princess Mary of Teck (daughter of Princess Mary and Duke Francis of Teck) who had been the Duke of Clarence’s fiancée was passed on to George. There was family precedent for this, as George’s own aunt, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, had been betrothed to the Tsarevich. However, when he died of menengitis in 1865, she was passed on to the next brother, the new Tsarevich (later Tsar Alexander III).

Notwithstanding the inauspicious genesis of their union, the Duke and Duchess of York were, according to all accounts, deeply devoted to each other throughout their lives, preferring the simplicity of fidelity and the family hearth to the fast living exemplified by George’s father, Edward, Prince of Wales and his own son, the future short-reigning King Edward VIII.

The Duke's costume as depicted in a line drawing in The Queen, 10 July 1897

For the Ball, the Duke of York is costumed as “The Queen’s Champion” in the Elizabethan procession. The costume, by Monsieur Alias, a renowned London theatrical costumier, is very closely modelled on a 1590 portrait by the miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland (1558-1605) – the champion of Queen Elizabeth I, who played an important part in the destruction of the Spanish Armada and was first Governor of the East India Company. The Duke himself was a navy man and had been married wearing the uniform of a naval captain.

Monsieur Alias ensured that the press had detailed costume descriptions for publication informing history that the Duke wears a pourpoint and sleeves of Genoa ciselé velvet embroidered with gold. His trunks are crimson velvet embroidered gold over grey satin. The high grey suede boots are rolled down at the top and in his grey felt hat he the a copy of the jewelled glove given to Cumberland by Queen Elizabeth I. The uncomfortable-looking steel gorget was lined with gold.

The Duchess, in the entourage of Alexandra, Princess of Wales, was robed as a lady at the court of Marguerite de Valois, a choice most probably influenced by the popularity of Meyerbeer’s opera Les Huguenots and the fact that the Princess of Wales needed six contemporaneous ladies in her entourage. For the role, the Duchess wears a blue satin dress, embroidered with silver, with a high wired lace collar studded with diamonds.