Princess Diana's wedding dress designer felt 'faint' when she saw gown on day
Lady Diana Spencer's wedding dress is easily remembered as one of the most iconic fashion looks throughout history. And while many were in awe of the dramatic gown, it may come as a surprise, however, not everyone was happy with the bride's final look on her special day.
On 29 July 1981, the then 20-year-old Diana stepped out of her carriage at St Paul's Cathedral wearing an antique lace and ivory silk taffeta gown made by designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel - but they weren't impressed with the final look.
The dress had taken months of preparation, the designers had gone to great lengths to ensure the dress' design remained top secret. However, at the time of completion, Elizabeth admitted feeling 'faint' when she saw Diana heading into St Paul's on television.
The dress is said to have cost approximately £9,000 (stock photo) (Getty Images)The dress was reported to have cost approximately £9,000 and included six different fabrics, classic puffed-up sleeves, and more than 10,000 pearls in total.
There were 25 yards of silk taffeta, 100 yards of tulle crinoline and 150 yards of netting for the veil. It was then followed by a train made of 25 feet of hand-embroidered silk.
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However, the designers were left "horrified" after seeing how creased Diana's dress has become after seeing her at the church.
Recalling the moment she saw Diana in her wedding dress, Elizabeth admitted she 'felt faint' during an appearance on ITV's Invitation to the Royal Wedding in 2018.
She said: "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.
"I was horrified, really, because it was quite a lot of creasing. It was a lot more than we thought."
They had carried out a dress rehearsal beforehand, but they'd used a different material, so it wasn't anywhere near as creased as how it looked on the day.
David and Elizabeth has a back up dress in case of any emergencies (Getty Images)As well as the famous dress, David and Elizabeth created a backup just in case it was needed in an emergency.
David told People: "At the time we wanted to make absolutely sure that the dress was a surprise.
"We didn’t try it on Diana. We never even discussed it. We wanted to make sure that we had something there; it was for our own peace of mind, really."
According to HELLO!, Diana personally called David after the ceremony to thank him for his work on the dress.
"After all the photographs, they went in to have the wedding breakfast and I went back to my studio in Mayfair. All of my workroom ladies were there so we had a glass of champagne," he said.
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"We had a little party and just as I'm about to lock up, the phone rings ... I thought who's calling? It was Diana! She said 'I just wanted to say thank you so much for the gown. I loved it. Prince Charles loved it. All the family loved it.'"
He added: "It couldn't have been more special for me to hear from the client. When you design for a bride you want her to be happy. As long as the bride is happy that is all that matters. The fact she took the time before she went off on honeymoon ... that's genuine kindness."
However, this wasn't the only disaster on the day, as Diana's makeup artists have claimed that ahead of walking down the aisle, she accidentally spilled Houbigant Paris Quelques Fleurs perfume on her dress, InStyle reports.
The makeup artist, Barbara Daly, said that she frantically tried to clean the dress but that the perfume still left a large stain.
So the only thing she could do was tell Diana to hold the dress up by the stained area so it would appear that she was just trying to avoid stepping on it.
Oh dear!
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