Princess Diana's wedding dress designer was 'horrified' the moment she saw her

02 March 2024 , 14:45

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Lady Diana Spencer's wedding dress has gone down in history (Image: Getty Images)

Even the best-laid royal plans don't always come off perfectly, and the wedding of Diana and Charles was no exception. Nearly 30 million people in the UK watched the pair get married back in 1981, and despite how much thought had gone into even the smallest details for the big day, there was one that was overlooked, leaving Diana's wedding dress designer absolutely frantic.

Diana's bridal dress, cut from silk taffeta and antique lace, was designed by Elizabeth and David Emmanuel The iconic gown boasted a classic Eighties silhouette, adorned with 10,000 mother-of-pearl sequins and a 25-foot-long train.

But despite all the tireless work that had gone into creating the piece, no one had considered just how the gown would stand up to the journey to St. Paul's Cathedral.

The dress was creased on Diana's arrival (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

When Diana stepped out of the coach ready to take part in her wedding ceremony, her wedding dress was seriously creased, and Elizabeth Emmanuel was left "horrified" at the sight of it - and the extent of the issue.

"We did know it would crease a bit but when I saw her arrive at St Paul's and we saw the creasing I actually felt faint," the wedding dress designer said, adding: "I was horrified, really, because it was quite a lot of creasing. It was a lot more than we thought."

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Part of the problem was just how much fabric the entire look was made up of, so much so, that they reportedly had trouble even fitting it inside the coach for Diana to travel with her father to the cathedral for her nuptials.

Successfully getting all the material into the coach meant folding it over on itself repeatedly, leading to some serious creasing when she stepped out at the other end.

Princess Diana on her wedding day over 40 years ago (Getty Images)

Elizabeth told the Daily Mail, "In the tiny carriage, it had crumpled far more than we'd anticipated. We'd done a rehearsal, but not with her father, Earl Spencer, in the car, too — and he was quite a large man. It was a hot day, there was so much volume in the net and she was nervous, so she kept grabbing hold of it in her hands. Fortunately, we knew the fabric would pull out — that's why we were there".

However, despite her initial shock at the creases, the designer was pleased with her and her husband's creation, adding: "When she came out of that carriage, it was the most wonderful vision I'd ever seen. She looked like a butterfly emerging from her chrysalis, unfurling her wings and about to fly. It was so romantic. Oddly, the imperfections seemed to make her even more beautiful".

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Emma Mackenzie