YORE SHOES

These are Queen Victoria’s wedding shoes. Victoria was only 18 when she was told that she was to become queen after the sudden death of her uncle, King William IV. Can you see how small her feet must have been? Queen Victoria’s diaries and reports from the Victorian times tell us that she loved to dance and you can be certain that she danced the night away in these on her wedding day on 1oth February 1840, to Prince Albert. She reigned for 63 years and after her reign she left some very big (or as we can see - really quite little) - shoes to fill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These shoes were worn by a bride at her wedding over 270 years ago in 1740. Gold coins called guineas were fixed to the heels so that the bride could walk to the altar on gold, and so encourage a wealthy marriage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This shoe owned by a lady called Edith Crouch was covered in the confetti from the wedding after they were used and kept as a memento. Why do you think so many wedding shoes are kept after the wedding day throughout time? What do you think keeping them symbolises? Is it the same throughout times?