Buckingham Palace gives exhibition of Queen's year

The public is being invited to get a glimpse into the Queen's year as Buckingham Palace mounts an exhibition on the spectacle and variety of the royal calendar.

What counts as routine for royals ranges from the State Opening of Parliament and Trooping the Colour to the Royal Windsor Horse Show and factory visits.

The exhibition, part of the annual summer opening of Buckingham Palace which starts on Tuesday, reflects the variety of the job with displays including 10 of Her Majesty's hats for Ascot through to silver used when the Privy Council is sitting.

A model of Wallace and Gromit presented when the Queen visited Aardman Animations and an Underground sign saying Buckingham Palace presented on a visit to Aldgate East Tube station suggest the range of her visits to see the ordinary life of Britain.

But curator David Oakey expects the star turn of the show to be the 18ft-long crimson velvet Robe of State made for her Coronation. "It's really exciting to be showing the Robe of State which has never been shown before," he said.