Arguably the most iconic wedding gown ever
I was a 9 year old little girl , and one of 750 million people , who watched Lady Diana Spencer walk out into St George ’ s Cathedral as a nursery school assistant , and walk out as the Princess of Wales , on 29 July 1981 . 31 August marks the 25th anniversary of her passing , so I feel it is befitting to pay tribute to the wedding that eclipsed even those of her sons , Princes William and Harry , in this technological age . Many came before her , and many will still come , but there will always only be one Princess Di – the most trend-setting bride of all time .
Designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel weren ’ t in the running as designers - they had designed a blouse for her during the courtship . The couple thought that the casual phone call , asking them to be the designers of her gown , was a hoax . They say that that is how she was – just a lovely , easygoing young woman .
They were given no special instructions on the design and had complete artistic freedom . In the end , they delivered an ivory ( not white – because it suited her natural complexion better ) silk and taffeta gown which featured lace that was over a century old , and an 18 carat gold horseshoe , studded with diamonds ( for good luck ) sewn into the petticoats . The train alone was 7.6m long , and her veil was 140m long . Hand-embroidered with mother-of-pearl sequins and an estimated 10,000 pearls , centered around a heart motif , the gown took the designers months to prepare .
The gown was typical of the 80 ’ s – great puffy sleeves , very romantic , flouncy , with a fitted bodice and full skirt . It had to be grand – it was going to be historic from the start . The first replicas were said to be available for orders within 5 hours of the wedding , although one must wonder at the standard of reproduction since it took designers 600 hours to replicate her dress from the Netflix series , The Crown .
Interesting facts about the wedding Diana ’ s dress had to be resized a number of times , due to her weight loss , following the onset of bulimia at the engagement . Diana reportedly said that she and Charles had only met each other 13 times before the wedding day Diana was the first British citizen to the heir to the throne in 300 years – prior to this , heirs married for political alliances . The wedding in St . Paul ’ s Cathedral was the first one since 1501 ( because it could seat 3500 guests ) 600 000 people lined the streets of London , hoping to catch a glimpse of the Royal carriage Adjusted for inflation , the wedding cost R2.2 billion , with R27 million being spent on security alone Only 120 guests were invited to the wedding meal , which featured 27 wedding cakes They discussed , and agreed on , having “ to obey ” removed from Diana ’ s vows Charles forgot to kiss Diana at the altar . The famous “ balcony kiss ” was a first , as royals are not permitted to show physical affection in public . The balcony kiss is now standard practice , with William and Kate actually kissing twice at their wedding . The retail price of the dress , at adjusted value , would be R7.3 million today .