Object of the month – Lord Shelburne’s Court Suit
Object Of The Month
4 June 2025
Lord Shelburne’s Court Suit
Today marks the birthday of King George III – 4th June 1738. Royal birthdays during the eighteenth century were huge celebratory occasions, which required sumptuous dress for all who were invited to court to celebrate. Our object of the month for June is this beautiful court suit worn by William, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (though often remembered by his former title, Lord Shelburne), at a birthday celebration for the King.
Royal birthday celebrations
During the reign of King George III, birthday balls were held twice a year to mark the official birthdays of both George and his Queen, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. George’s celebrations would coincide with his June birthday, but Charlotte, whose actual birthday was May, would be celebrated in mid-January.
A royal birthday would include private family events: going to church and having a private dinner in the evening. However, beyond this, it was a very public occasion. Courtiers would be invited to the drawing room of St. James’s Palace in the afternoon as well as an elaborate birthday ball after the royal family’s dinner. It was at these events that Britain’s elite were expected to attend and honour the monarch, both with their presence and extravagant court dress.
Court dress
It was a long-established tradition to wear spectacular court suits, such as this one worn by Lord Shelburne.
The coat and breeches are made of green velvet, embroidered with lilac flowers in pink and white thread, with matching embroidered buttons. The waistcoat is of cream satin, embroidered with a matching floral design. (The wig is also original to the eighteenth-century: as was common back then, it is made of horsehair!)
The suit dates to around 1790: though the jacket has a more old-fashioned (by this time) curved front, the high collar on both the jacket and the waistcoat reflecting contemporary fashions.
Embroidery like this was a hallmark of men’s court dress, the more elaborate the better, on top of luxurious, fine and colourful materials. A court suit like this would take months to produce, as all the embroidery was done by hand. It goes without saying court suits were incredibly expensive: there were contemporary reports of courtiers mortgaging their houses to enable them to afford these sartorial statements.
Lord Shelburne at Court
Born in 1737, Lord Shelburne (d. 1805) was only a year older than the King. He was a fascinating figure who had a varied political career. As a young man he was appointed aide-de-camp to George III in the Seven Years’ War, before being appointed MP for Wycombe, then going on to serve in several different governmental roles.
Notably, Lord Shelburne became Prime Minister in 1782. Although his premiership was short (until 1783), he oversaw the peace negotiations at the end of the American War of Independence, resulting in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. A key aspect of this treaty was that Britain officially recognized the United States as a free, sovereign, and independent nation with a new border between the US and British North America (later Canada). In 1784, he was created the Marquess of Lansdowne, after which retired from politics.
He remained culturally engaged. The network he built across his lifetime included figures ranging from American founding father Benjamin Franklin to scientist and discoverer of oxygen Joseph Priestley, and philosopher Jeremy Bentham, amongst others.
Though his relationship with the King fluctuated, he held a regular presence at court, recognising the customs of honouring the monarchy, as this exquisite example of a court suit symbolises.
What is also wonderful, beyond the remarkable craftsmanship that has gone into making this garment, is how beautifully preserved this suit is. It can be viewed in our Georgian Room.