Artisans in Britain, Germany and France craft the Royal Opera House's new curtains

The Royal Ballet and Opera commissioned a new set of stage curtains to replace those bearing the cypher of Queen Elizabeth, which have hung at the central London venue for 27 years

Studio manager Gemma Murray arranges embroidery pieces of a crown and the cipher of His Majesty King Charles III for the new Royal Opera House stage curtains at the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace, ahead of their unveiling in May 2026, in London, Britain, Mar 4, 2026. REUTERS

In a studio inside London's Hampton Court Palace, hand embroiderer Marg Dier carefully stitches fabric foliage around King Charles III's cypher. The shiny gold insignia will adorn a new pair of stage curtains that will open and close performances at London’s Royal Opera House.

Her stitches are small and must be very secure.

"It's going to be going up and down at the Opera House," said Dier, a senior studio embroiderer at the Royal School of Needlework Embroidery Studio, whose clients include royalty and fashion houses.

The Royal Ballet and Opera commissioned a new set of stage curtains to replace those bearing the cypher of Charles' late mother, Queen Elizabeth, which have hung at the central London venue for 27 years, introducing more than 10,000 performances.

The new ones are once again a collaboration between the Royal School of Needlework, whose team is stitching the corner decor depicting the cypher - the initials 'C' and 'R', Charles' regnal number in Roman numerals plus the Tudor crown - and German stage equipment specialist Gerriets, which is making the deep red curtains.

Part is digital machine embroidery, but there is hand embellishment, particularly on the crown, including colourful jewels, an ermine and a ruched red velvet cap.

Once finished, the embroidery travels to Gerriets' sewing workshop in Volgelsheim on the French-German border. There, seamstresses apply the cypher onto the corners of the curtains, made of mohair velour. They come in two parts, each measuring 9.75 metres (32 feet) wide with a 10.8-metre drop.

"The curtain model is a swag opening curtain style,” said Andreas Fraemke, senior project manager at Gerriets. "It's made of four layers... (with) three lining layers. This is to protect the curtain from the back and also for sound protection between audience and stage."

The curtains will be unveiled at the May 14 Spring Gala.

"It's a famous curtain, a famous opera house and so we are really proud... to do something like this," Fraemke said, calling it a truly European project.