Diana: a celebration Wedding Dress Facts The Dress Designers

---

 

Diana: A Celebration  

Wedding Dress Facts 

 

The Dress Designers: 

 

•

  In her efforts to support England’s fashion industry, Diana selected a young 

British couple, Elizabeth and David Emanuel of London’s Mayfair district, who 

had been in business only seven years.   

 

•

  The relatively unknown Emanuels were chosen for both their talents and their 

discretion.  Diana had worked with David and Elizabeth on previous occasions, 

including her first public appearance after her engagement to Prince Charles, 

when she wore their revealing black off-the-shoulder gown. 

 

•

  Following the wedding, demand for the Emanuels’ designs and sketches 

skyrocketed.  

 

•

  Even after their new success, the Emanuels insisted on keeping their operation 

small, believing that otherwise, “the dresses will lose their magic.”  Every dress is 

custom-made. 

 

The Secret of the Dress: 

 

•

 The 

Toronto Star dubbed Princess Diana’s wedding dress the most closely 

guarded secret in fashion history.   

o

  From the time of the March announcement that the Emanuels would be 

making Diana’s dress until the wedding in July, the windows of their 

Brooke Street couture shop were covered with blinds.   

o

  Security guards were hired to protect the shop from burglars, looking to 

steal a design that was worth millions, and from reporters, eager to have 

the first story on the dress. 

o

  Details of the bride’s gown and the royal outfits of the Queen and other 

royal women were released in sealed envelopes the morning of the 

wedding, to be opened at the moment the 20-year-old bride stepped into 

the glass coach at Clarence House on her way to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  

 

•

  There were five months of intense fittings, and Diana had to have rehearsals to 

practice walking with the heavy 25-foot train.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

The Dress: 

 

•

  In keeping with tradition, most of the materials used in Diana’s royal wedding 

dress were made in Britain.  

 

•

  The dress is a romantic, fairy-tale gown made of ivory silk taffeta and lace, with a 

fitted, boned bodice, curved neckline, and a detailed finish.  

 

•

  The wedding gown has a full skirt over a multi-layered, tulle petticoat, with 

intricately designed bodice panels.  The entire gown is hand-embroidered with 

more than 10,000 tiny mother-of-pearl sequins and pearls. 

 

•

  The 25-foot silk train is the longest in Royal history, and adds a touch of 

theatricality to the outfit.  It has been called the dress of the century.  

 

•

  The dress was made of six different fabrics, including 25 yards of silk taffeta,                                      

100 yards of tulle crinoline, and 150 yards of netting for the veil.  

 

Other Interesting Facts: 

 

•

  Diana’s five bridesmaids also wore dresses of ivory silk, modeled closely on her 

gown.  

 

•

  Diana observed tradition by wearing old antique lace, new silk specially spun at 

Lullington silk farm in Dorset, a borrowed tiara from the Spencer family collection, 

and a small blue bow, sewn into the waistband of her dress for luck.  

 

•

  A tiny horseshoe in 18-karat gold and studded with white diamonds, a second 

good luck token, was also sewn into the intricately embroidered dress.  

 

•

  Diana’s low-heeled slippers were made of ivory silk, top-stitched with pearls and 

sequins, with suede soles etched in gold.  

 

•

  The bride carried a cascade of gardenias and golden Mountbatten roses, named 

after Charles’ godfather, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and mixed with white orchids, 

lilies-of-the-valley, and freesias.  The bouquet also included traditional myrtle and 

veronica flowers, cut from bushes grown from cuttings from Queen Victoria’s 

wedding bouquet.