Almost four decades ago, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married. The event, which took place on July 29, 1981, was called the “wedding of the century” and looked like a story from a storybook.
They were married in the Cathedral of Saint Paul in front of some 3,000 guests and another 750 million who tuned in from all over the world. The lavish affair cost around $ 100 million and the dress Princess Diana donned became iconic and made history. This is what her dress had that no other royal bride had before her.
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Why was Princess Diana’s wedding dress a record?
Princess Diana’s wedding dress was created by then-husband and wife design team David and Elizabeth Emanuel.
Diana’s dress was made from ivory taffeta fabric with elegant embroidery, antique lace and 10,000 pearls. And who can forget that train?
Pop Sugar reported that the dress’s 25-foot train broke records, as it was the longest train in the royal family’s history at the time. Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, and Princess Anne had much shorter trains. Before Diana, Princess Sofia of Greece and Denmark had the longest train at 20 feet.
Perhaps even more impressive was Diana’s tulle veil, which measured 153 yards, according to Town & Country.
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Diana’s dress designers made a backing gown that disappeared
Before the royal wedding, the question on everyone’s mind was what Diana’s dress would look like. To keep it a secret until the big day, David and Elizabeth went out of their way and even installed a safe to store designs and fabric swatches. They also made a backing dress in case any of the design details from the original leaked to the press.
“At the time, we absolutely wanted to make sure the dress was a surprise,” Elizabeth told People. “If the secret of the royal dress had been revealed, it is possible that Diana really would have worn [the other] one.”
The former couple explained that the backing dress was similar to the one worn by the Princess of Wales, but more simplistic. It was made from the same ivory silk taffeta but had a deeper ruffled neckline, shorter ruffled sleeves and a ball gown with no lace hem.
So where is that dress today? Well, nobody really knows.
“It hung in the studio for a long time and then it disappeared,” Elizabeth revealed. “I don’t know if we sold it or stored it. It was a very busy time. I’m sure it will appear in a bag someday!
The dress that Diana wore became a staple of British fashion for years after the wedding and remains one of the most talked about outfits in royal wedding history.
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