In 2022 the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) celebrated its 150th anniversary. It was founded to keep hand embroidery alive and to offer suitable occupation to educated women who would otherwise have been destitute. Today it is a thriving centre of hand embroidery education to the highest level. This lecture, goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the last 150 years and the School’s changing fortunes including: being part of the ‘Kensington set’; the links with the Arts and Crafts and Aestheticism movements; the connection with the SAS; the move to Hampton Court Palace and the variety of commissions the RSN has undertaken from wedding dresses to Oscar gowns and from runway garments to ecclesiastical vestments. It then adds work from the RSN's 151st year when the team worked on nine pieces for the 2023 coronation.