Margaret Seaman, 93, first wowed us in 2021 with her knitted version of Sandringham Estate, and now she has created an eight-foot by five-foot Buckingham Palace out of yarn.
The elaborate three-dimensional work of art includes the Palace’s major Neoclassical detailing like pointed pediments, columns, pilasters, and single- and double-hung windows. The great-great-grandmother has even included the Palace’s ornate black and gold gate and stony red forecourt, where the daily changing of the guards takes place, complete with knitted Palace guards, guard houses, and tourists just outside the property.
Seaman’s knack for knitting replicas of royal property got her noticed by the late Queen Elizabeth II while she was at Sandringham House setting up her replica of the estate back in 2021. “I looked up, saw it was the Queen…and said ‘Oh, hello’. I was so shocked,” the grandmother of thirteen told the BBC of her first encounter with the Queen. “She seemed to enjoy it very much,” Seaman told the Press Association of the Queen’s reaction to her work. For the Sandringham project, Seaman even included the cutest knitted recreations of the former Queen, the late Prince Philip, Prince William, and Kate Middleton.
An avid knitter, Seaman created the Palace replica to raise funds for a new children’s hospice at Addenbrooke’s Hospital located on the University of Cambridge’s Biomedical Campus. Seaman believes she has raised about £100,000 ($121,206.00) for charity via her knitting and has even received a British Empire Medal for her work.
The Buckingham Palace piece, which took eight months to complete, is now on display at the Norfolk Maker’s Festival in Norwich, England, running until March 19. Seaman says that this will be her last replica of royal property due to failing eyesight, but she’s proud of the work she’s done: “It’s just so rewarding,” she said.
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