Stars Margaret Thatcher pissed off and dressed the Sex Pistols: why Vivienne Westwood was called the queen of hooligans

“Britain has lost two of its queens this year,” they wrote on social media. One of them is the monarch, the head of the royal family, chosen by fate to rule almost all his life. The latter is the tamer and mastermind of punk, a hooligan, an enthusiast, an activist, an inimitable figure in the world of fashion. Both are legends.

And neither of them knew that one day they would become queens. Elizabeth II. she succeeded her father George VI, who was crowned after the abdication of her brother Edward VIII. Born into a poor family in Cheshire, Vivien worked as a teacher, then as a seamstress after getting an education. And little did she know that at the age of 70 she would cause a standing ovation, leave (or leave) the stage after her performances, and also receive the Order of the British Empire from the hands of Elizabeth – and even famously spin in front of photographers to demonstrate the absence of underwear.

Take Tatler’s legendary cover story: Vivienne designed a suit for Margaret Thatcher, but decided to wear it herself before sending it to the Prime Minister. And shoot the envelope in the form of the Iron Lady. The magazine with the tagline “This woman was once a punk” went on sale, and the editor-in-chief was soon removed from his post. Once again, Westwood was out of contention.

Thatcher was rumored to be furious – and the more popular the punk icon was. Westwood even threw himself into the sacred crown for the British, releasing provocative T-shirts in honor of the release of the Sex Pistols single “God save the Queen”. The designer portrayed Queen Elizabeth with pin-pierced lips: to say it’s bold is an understatement!

“You could easily walk to the end of Kings Road in a shirt like this. They could have beaten them further,” they wrote about Vivien’s trick. Anyone really could have been punished for this – but not Westwood. Thanks to her talent and endlessly courageous, stubborn and at the same time sensual nature, any of her tricks, even the craziest, quickly passed into the status of genius. This happens to queens, especially those chosen by the people.