The Queen (or The Queen, The Ladies’ Newspaper and Court Chronicle) was an illustrated weekly society magazine established by Samuel Beeton in 1861, and originally focused on the proceedings of high society and the British aristocracy. Because this was all done through a lens of fashion and culture, The Queen is able to offer fashion historians a fantastic insight into fashion trends of the various rungs of society throughout the decades.
Take this page from 7 May 1910, where in advertising the ‘Spécialité Corset’, the antiquated garment is likened to an architect’s foundation for a building. “An architect,” it reads, “pays the minutest attention to the foundation of his building and then raises the structure, embellishing it according to his standard of beauty. How many women forget the corset is the foundation of their dress?”
However, by the end of the 1950s, the title was shortened to Queen and the content recalibrated to appeal to a younger readership – a significant shift in tone from the paper’s origins. This was at the behest of editor Beatrix Miller, who had climbed through the ranks after beginning her career at the magazine as a secretary. Miller supposedly had a very specific image of ‘Caroline’, the ideal reader, and provided a copy of a new style guide to every contributing writer so that they had a clear idea of who they were writing for.
In the 1970s, Queen was sold to Harper’s Bazaar UK and the title merged into Harper’s & Queen, before the ‘Queen’ was dropped entirely, leaving us with today’s title well-known fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar.
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1861–63 Queen (London, England : 1861)
- 1863–63 The Lady's Newspaper, The Queen & Court Chronicle.
- 1864–1922 The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper & Court Chronicle.
- 1923–67 Queen (London, England : 1923)
