Gown worn by royal babies was soaked in Yorkshire Tea for authentic look

The robe, worn by Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, is an exact replica of the one all royal babies have worn since Queen Victoria commissioned it in 1841.

Royal dressmaker Angela Kelly was tasked with creating the new version after the original became too worn.

In her book, The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, The Dresser and the Wardrobe, Mrs Kelly tells how she travelled to Italy to source the lace along with dressmaker Barbara Buckfield.

She writes: "Together, we sourced lace to complement that being made in Italy, and to make sure it looked authentic we dyed it in Yorkshire tea (the strongest, as we all know).

"We placed each piece of lace in a small bowl, from the Dressers' Kitchen, filled with cool water and a tea bag, and left it for about five minutes, checking regularly until the colour was perfect.

"At each stage of the process, I would show our progress to the Queen: first the bodice, then the sleeves attached to it, then the skirt with the under-layers on, and finally the completed robe. Her Majesty was very interested to see how it was developing. From start to finish, it had taken us, appropriately, nine months."

Mrs Kelly, the daughter of a Liverpool dock worker has served as Personal Assistant and Senior Dresser to Queen Elizabeth since 2002.

The replica gown was first worn by James, Viscount Severn, son of the Earl and Countess of Wessex and has appeared at every royal christening since then.

Its most recent outing was in July at the baptism of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's son, Archie.