Kilt on Colin Firth in movie "The King's Speech"

[millykilts]

Has anyone thought of contacting someone to ask what tartan they used and why?

I've had plenty of luck asking questions of production teams before and usually they work hard to be accurate and only choose not to
be when it would be very difficult to film with an accurate item.

Now this answer i am 100% on the reason the movie makers have got Colin Firth not wearing Balmoral tartan is that you cannot purchase this tartan without direct permission from the Royal households secretary.And righlty so this tartan is for members of the Royal familly one exception is the the Queens piper has to wear it.The reason i am 100% as i had to work on Queens Piper Jimmy Stout ex Queens Own Highlander with which i was the Master stitch, i had to get permission from her secretary to be given some yardage to do the task at hand.It was made quite clear that if any off cuttings or any form of this tartan appeared anywhere i would be looking for a new job and all offcuts were returned to Kinloch Anderson for disposal.I find it hardly unlikely that the film industry would be even considered for approval.

[figheadair]

Now this answer i am 100% on the reason the movie makers have got Colin Firth not wearing Balmoral tartan is that you cannot purchase this tartan without direct permission from the Royal households secretary.And righlty so this tartan is for members of the Royal familly one exception is the the Queens piper has to wear it.The reason i am 100% as i had to work on Queens Piper Jimmy Stout ex Queens Own Highlander with which i was the Master stitch, i had to get permission from her secretary to be given some yardage to do the task at hand.It was made quite clear that if any off cuttings or any form of this tartan appeared anywhere i would be looking for a new job and all offcuts were returned to Kinloch Anderson for disposal.I find it hardly unlikely that the film industry would be even considered for approval.

That's the case now but it wasn't always so. In the 1930s several manufacturers wove and sold the Balmoral commercially. As a result several different versions arose. The original was in fact technically a tweed and not tartan.

[figheadair]

Has anyone thought of contacting someone to ask what tartan they used and why?

I've had plenty of luck asking questions of production teams before and usually they work hard to be accurate and only choose not to
be when it would be very difficult to film with an accurate item.

I've been trying to contact them, in fact the costume designer, all week without success. Hope to get reply soon.

[ForresterModern]

As to the tartan, definitely not standard Douglas as the white stripes are too close and there is no intervening double azure between. I though maybe Mackenzie hunting but from the earlier close up it does not seem to fit either. The guess at County Kerry seems like the closest so far.

By the way there is a rare/reproduction sett of Douglas that does have brown in it, namely Douglas Brown (WR2523) from original MacBean & Bishop listing.



Cannot imagine the movie going for a custom/rare sett like that when there are so many others more readily available and likely more appropriate.

Also, Weathered Douglas also has a faint brown in it.

[Duke of Delrio]

I really have no idea which tartan was used in the film. It would be
nice, I suppose, to know.

But I pose this question about which tartan "should" have been
used in order to preserve authenticity. Would not HRH The Duke
of York have had every right to have worn any unrestricted tartan?
And similarly, would he not have had the right to wear an unregistered
tartan?

As I understand the scene, the journey was to Balmoral, the private
estate of the Royal Family, and not to a public venue. Could he not have
worn nearly any tartan that pleased him?

[JSFMACLJR]

I really have no idea which tartan was used in the film. It would be
nice, I suppose, to know.

But I pose this question about which tartan "should" have been
used in order to preserve authenticity. Would not HRH The Duke
of York have had every right to have worn any unrestricted tartan?
And similarly, would he not have had the right to wear an unregistered
tartan?

As I understand the scene, the journey was to Balmoral, the private
estate of the Royal Family, and not to a public venue. Could he not have
worn nearly any tartan that pleased him?

Of course he could, just like you or I could wear any tartan ( with very few exceptions ) we wish to...but good taste and convention put the brakes on that. The Duke of York would have worn a kilt made of a tartan to which he has a direct association. Why? Because it's just done that way.

As to what was worn in the movie, I highly doubt it was a tartan worn by the Royal Family. But who cares?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

As to what was worn in the movie... who cares?

I realize the above is taken slightly out of context (for which I apologize), but in light of other's comments re: formal attire, which tartan, the king in a suit, etc., I think a few observations may be in order.

First, no one is in formal attire because the party is taking place in the afternoon, not the evening. The Yorks arrive by car during the day and go straight to the party.

The king is in a suit to visually re-enforce that he has broken with all tradition, unlike his brother who is traditionally attired. (And, unless my eyes deceive me, I believe the king's suit is the same tartan as York's kilt.)

As to which tartan is being worn... well to quote Sandy, "who cares?" The tartan, what ever it is, only helps to define the character of those in this scene and advance the plot of the story-- it is not central to the theme of the film.

It is always possible to pick apart any movie-- did anyone notice how poorly King George VI's dress RN uniform fit, or notice that the sleeve stripes were the wrong width on both uniforms? And if you did, did it spoil the picture?

And, for what it's worth, the actual confrontation between York and the King took place on the terrace at Balmoral, during the Royals' regular visit, not in the winter.

The question that I'd ask is this: Did Colin Firth look well dressed in the kilt? If the answer is "no" then I think we all have something to complain about.

[McMurdo]

Sandford, I thought the very same thing regarding the sporran the hose and especially the jacket. when they obviously did their homework on the other costuming the Highland wear seemed to me to be an after thought. it seemed to me like they went down the Royal Mile to Heritage of Scotland and bought an entire outfit in the one place without doing any other research.

[davidlpope]

when they obviously did their homework on the other costuming the Highland wear seemed to me to be an after thought. it seemed to me like they went down the Royal Mile to Heritage of Scotland and bought an entire outfit in the one place without doing any other research.

This was my reaction as well. I'm sure there were time/budget constraints, but the rest of the costuming seemed so spot-on and well thought, it was a bit of a shame given all the wonderful photos showing the Duke of York kilted.

Funny how we note the same things, David. I wasn't so much bothered by the tartan as I was the sporran, tweed kilt jacket, and hose. No Royal gentleman would have worn such a jacket. And the sporran! I guess those are pretty popular today, but in 1936 they were unheard of amongst the Highland grandees! The Duke of York would NEVER have worn a sporran with a cantle like that.

I agree. I was also a little surprised that they costumed Kind Edward VIII in a tweed suit at Balmoral. After reading the biography of the Duke of Windsor I got the feeling that he, more than any of his family, enjoyed wearing the kilt. IIRC, he even learned the pipes a bit...

David

[NewEnglander]

We also saw the film yesterday afternoon. This afternoon when I brought up the possibility of going to a Burns Supper at some point in the future and mentioned more formal attire like a Prince Charlie, my fiancée asked if that was the jacket she saw in the movie. I told her that it was not and that I had been surprised to see it. A quick comparison to black tie attire cleared it up for her.
Enough about jackets...back to nit-picking about tartans!