Michael Pick Speaks About Sir Norman Hartnell

LONDON — Sir Norman Hartnell, one of Britain’s most famous couturiers and the man who made Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation dress, Princess Margaret’s wedding gown and a host of other designs for royals and celebrities, wasn’t all he appeared to be, according to a new biography.

In many ways, he resembled many 20th and 21st-century London designers, with their amazing talents, clients and commissions, but with little know-how — or experience — on the business side. Hartnell also harbored a few secrets that could have cost him his work with the royals in particular.