This cloth is hand-woven in silk shot with a flat metal thread
of 90% silver and 2½% pure gold. Warner’s has woven the Cloth of
Gold for every monarch since 1901 including Queen Elizabeth II in
1953.
On 1 April 1911 the Illustrated London Evening News featured the
cloth-of-gold being woven by Warner and Sons for George V’s
coronation. This article explains that during the coronation
ceremony the following garments are put upon the sovereign:
- The Colobium Sindonis
- The Supertunica (or Close Pall)
- The Pallium (or Imperial Mantle)
- The Stole
The
Colobium Sindonis was made of white linen, but the
other garments were cloth-of-gold. George V opted to wear George
IV’s
Pallium. His
Supertunica and Stole were made
for him using the cloth-of-gold woven for him at Braintree. To make
both garments about 11 metres of fabric was required. The
cloth-of-gold was woven by hand and was 53cm (21”) wide. The weaver
usually managed to weave between 22 – 25cm (9 – 10”) a
day.