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Nightie fit for a Queen on display at the North Otago Museum – 10 June to 8 September

Tuesday 14 June 2011, 8:30AM

By Waitaki District Council

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OAMARU

A nightgown that might just have belonged to Queen Mary is now on display at the North Otago Museum. The exhibition marks the centenary of the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in June 1911.

The nightie itself was donated to the museum in 2003. Curator Chloe Searle has been researching the history of this garment, “the story goes that a woman nursing in a London hospital during World War II had her leg badly hurt during a bombing raid in the Blitz. She ended up with this nightgown and later passed on to a friend saying it had once belonged to Queen Mary.”

Chloe says so far the research has been inconclusive, “the monogram on the nightgown does not match any known to have been used by Queen Mary but I am hopeful of finding out more about the nurse and shedding some further light on this intriguing story.”