The History of Princess Diana's Wedding Dress: All About the Designers, the Lost Backup Gown and That Record-breaking Train
Ahead, learn about the history behind the iconic gown, including its designers, its cost and where it is today.
More from WWD
Princess Diana's Trooping the Colour Looks Through the Years: Suiting Up in Catherine Walker, Going Monochrome in Jan Van Velden and More
A Look Back at Kate Middleton's Cartier Wedding Day Tiara on Her 13th Wedding Anniversary: A Brief History of the Royal Family's Tradition
Pamela Anderson Channels Vintage Allure in Thom Browne at 'The Naked Gun' Premiere With Liam Neeson
Who designed Princess Diana's wedding dress?
David and Elizabeth Emanuel, also known as the Emanuels, designed Princess Diana's wedding dress. She first became fond of the duo after wearing one of their chiffon blouses, which was custom-made for her engagement portrait session. The ruffled pink top recently fetched $381,000 at auction.
'When she saw our blouse on the rack she fell in love with it, asked who had made it and was directed to us,' Elizabeth Emanuel said in her 2006 book, 'A Dress for Diana.'
Diana herself selected the Emanuels to design her wedding gown, which, per Elizabeth, 'had to be something that was going to go down in history, but also something that Diana loved' and which would be 'suitably dramatic in order to make an impression.'
What is Princess Diana's wedding dress made of?
The gown was crafted from ivory silk taffeta and antique Carrickmacross lace, which had previously belonged to Diana's great-grandmother-in-law, Queen Mary. Embroidery, sequins and over 10,000 pearls adorned its waistline, hem and train, which broke royal wedding records with a length of 25 feet.
A small blue bow was sewn into the waistband of the gown for Diana's 'something blue,' and an 18-karat gold horseshoe charm was also stitched in for good luck.
A Look Back at Princess Diana's Wedding Dress [PHOTOS]
View Gallery
For 'peace of mind,' the Emanuels designed a second gown for Diana's wedding day. 'At the time we wanted to make absolutely sure that the dress was a surprise,' Elizabeth Emanuel told People in 2011. 'Had the secret of the real dress got out it's possible that Diana would actually have worn this one.'
Sketches of the backup gown were first revealed in 2023. Also made from ivory silk taffeta — but without the antique lace — it was embroidered with scalloped details along the hemline and sleeves. Tiny pearls were also sewn onto the bodice. The alternate dress, however, has since vanished.
'It was really just a backup to the original and I don't know where it went. It just disappeared,' Elizabeth Emanuel told Hello! in 2023.
How much did Princess Diana's wedding dress cost?
At the time of its creation, Diana's gown was worth approximately $114,800. Today, that's equivalent to around $448,500.
Where is Princess Diana's wedding dress today?
In her will, Diana bequeathed her bespoke gown to her sons, Princes William and Harry. They officially inherited it in 2014, upon the latter's 30th birthday.
They've since loaned out the wedding dress for exhibition: in 2021, it was put on display as part of Kensington Palace's show titled 'Royal Style in the Making,' which concluded in 2022.
The Legacy of the Wedding Dress
To this day, the late Princess of Wales's wedding gown remains a fashion fixture, so much so that the dress became the subject of a documentary in 2025. In June, Britain's Channel 5, a division of Paramount Global, debuted the TV documentary 'Secrets of Diana's Wedding Dress.'
The one-hour documentary chronicles the meteoric rise of designers David and Elizabeth Emmanuel from Royal College of Art graduates to the creators of Diana's wedding gown. Along with a spotlight on the Emmanuels, the documentary also highlighted Greek-born Nina Missetzis, who hand-sewed the dress and worked in tandem with the Emmanuels' team of seamstresses.
'Secrets of Diana's Wedding Dress' revealed details about the fittings prior to Charles and Diana's wedding on July 29, 1981, the wedding photos, the late British royal family member's anxieties regarding then-Prince Charles' relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles (now King Charles III's wife of roughly 20 years and the queen consort) and so much more.
'The dress has dominated my life,' Elizabeth Emmanuel said. 'I had wanted to do a documentary like this for many years. There are loads and loads of documentaries about Diana, quite rightly, but this is a story within a story that's never been told, and it's a story of teamwork,' she said.
A Look Back at Princess Diana's Wedding Dress [PHOTOS]
View Gallery
Launch Gallery: A Look Back at Princess Diana's Wedding Dress [PHOTOS]
Best of WWD
What to Wear When It's Too Hot: Style Tips for Keeping Cool on Sweltering Days
The Best Hair and Makeup Moments From 'The Devil Wears Prada' Original Movie
'Freaky Friday' Beauty Moments That Defined Y2K: From Calico Hair to Chipped Nails
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Natasha Richardson's Mom Vanessa Redgrave Seen in Rare Video Amid Liam Neeson's New Chapter
's mom, Vanessa Redgrave, is all smiles in a rare video amid 's new chapter. "Darling. A little video?" Redgrave, 88, said in an Instagram video shared by daughter Joely Richardson on Wednesday, July 30. As the camera approached Redgrave sitting on a bench while petting a dog, she exclaimed, 'Hello!' ''When the heart is cut or cracked or broken, do not clutch it, let the wound lie open.' Leunig,' Joely, 60, captioned her post. 'For some reason these words from the poem came to me — simple summer morning.' Alongside her message, Joely shared a series of photos, including a selfie by a tree in a garden and a picture of Michael Leunig's book The Prayer Tree. She also shared an image of a T-shirt celebrating World Peace Day, which Redgrave rocked in the video. Liam Neeson Recalls Meeting and 'Falling in Love' With Late Wife Natasha Richardson 'Mum wearing my PEACE tshirt,' Joely wrote. 'Bare feet on grass, and astonishment at my little apple tree. It's about 2 feet tall, and I picked 8 apples off it that day all deliciously edible. Small wonders. Enough to keep going. 1 foot in front of other. X. #apple #tree #appletrees #prayers.' Redgrave shared Natasha and Joely with ex Tony Richardson, who died at age 63 in 1991. Redgrave is also mom to Carlo Gabriel Nero, whom she shares with husband Franco Nero. Neeson, for his part, tied the knot with Natasha in 1994. Natasha died in a 2009 ski accident at age 45. The pair shared two sons. 'It was great doing it every night with her and falling in love,' Neeson, 73, told The New York Times in a profile published on Thursday, July 31, while recalling starring on Broadway with his late wife. Liam Neeson's Sweetest Quotes About His Late Wife Natasha Richardson Over the Years While Neeson stayed single for the most part after Richardson's death, he sparked a romance with The Naked Gun costar Pamela Anderson. 'Pamela and Liam are dating,' a source exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, July 29, adding that the pair 'always had chemistry while they were filming and their friendship naturally developed into more.' The insider added, 'They are both shy and have tried to stay private, but the spark between them is obvious.' The source shared that Anderson's two children gave their stamp of approval on the relationship. (Anderson, 58, shares sons Brandon and Dylan with ex-husband Tommy Lee.) '[Brandon and Dylan] love seeing her happy and fully approve,' the insider told Us. '[They] think Liam is great and have gotten to know him better in the last few months.' Solve the daily Crossword
an hour ago
Movie Review: Kristin Scott Thomas directs Scarlett Johansson in comedic drama 'My Mother's Wedding'
Before Kristin Scott Thomas turned 12, she lost her father and stepfather. Both were Royal Navy pilots who died in crashes. The first happened when she was 5. The second at age 11. Thomas uses these facts, a kind of origin story, as the basis for her directorial debut, 'My Mother's Wedding,' a comedic drama about family, trauma and getting on with it that opens in theaters Friday. Knowing that the story comes from a real place is important for the experience. It gives 'My Mother's Wedding,' a perfectly average film that doesn't quite land the way it should, an emotional depth that it's otherwise lacking. This is a strange shortcoming considering the caliber of the cast, including Thomas as the bride to be, and Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham and Scarlett Johansson as her daughters. But it's a cruel reminder that a good hook, talented actors, one killer monologue and a picturesque setting (in this case, the English countryside) aren't guarantees that a movie will work. In the film, the deaths may be in the distant past, but they continue to haunt Diana's (Thomas) adult daughters as she prepares to marry another. Diana's new man is not a dashing pilot, forever preserved in handsome youth. Geoffrey (James Fleet) is very gray. He likes to talk about birds, ospreys in particular, has never had children and comes with a very silly last name (Loveglove) that she plans to take. Her girls are not exactly impressed, though they've all got their own stuff to deal with. It should be said that Johansson is indeed playing a British woman in this film, and while I don't feel qualified to comment on the nuances of her accent, all I can say is that there is a consistently strange disconnect to hear it coming out of her mouth. Johansson is a great actor who I've believed in many wilder roles, from Marvel movies right on down to her Ellen Greene riff during 'Saturday Night Live's' 50th anniversary show. But, somehow, she's hard to buy as Katherine Frost: A British, lesbian Royal Navy officer in a longtime relationship with a woman named Jack (played by fellow beauty Freida Pinto). Miller's character is Victoria, a Hollywood actor known for franchise dreck (no one can remember whether the latest 'Dame Of Darkness' is the fourth or fifth in the series) and short-lived relationships. And Beecham is the youngest Georgina, a nurse who suspects that her husband is having an affair. To find out, the girls hire a private detective to surveil her house and show them the footage after the wedding. It's a very busy, fraught weekend for everyone. There's lots of fretting over why Katherine won't marry Jack, and why Victoria is dancing around a relationship with a wealthy, older French man when her childhood crush still pines for her. There's lingering anxiety about their mom marrying this man who seems so unlike the two heroes that came before and much discussion about the importance of last names, marriage and making sure kids feel like they belong to someone. Some things get resolved, but it's hard to shake the feeling that everyone might need a new therapist by the end. 'My Mother's Wedding' also has a silly lightness to it that's aiming for something along the lines of a Richard Curtis romantic comedy. But coherency of the vision is limited, as is the audience's investment, though there are some lovely and inspired touches like using Iranian artist Reza Riahi to hand paint several animated flashback vignettes based on her memories of her fathers. Thomas co-wrote the script with her husband, journalist John Micklethwait, which includes a particularly poignant monologue for her character telling her daughters, essentially, to grow up and move on — a mature and worthy statement that might come a bit too late. 'My Mother's Wedding' feels only partially realized. But Thomas did have the good sense to end with a song that might just conjure up some feelings for any 'Heartburn' fans out there: Carly Simon's 'Coming Around Again,' this time a duet with Alanis Morissette. 'My Mother's Wedding,' a Vertical release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 'brief nudity, some sexual material and language.' Running time: 95 minutes. Two stars out of four.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Movie Review: Kristin Scott Thomas directs Scarlett Johansson in comedic drama 'My Mother's Wedding'
Before Kristin Scott Thomas turned 12, she lost her father and stepfather. Both were Royal Navy pilots who died in crashes. The first happened when she was 5. The second at age 11. Thomas uses these facts, a kind of origin story, as the basis for her directorial debut, 'My Mother's Wedding,' a comedic drama about family, trauma and getting on with it that opens in theaters Friday. Knowing that the story comes from a real place is important for the experience. It gives 'My Mother's Wedding,' a perfectly average film that doesn't quite land the way it should, an emotional depth that it's otherwise lacking. This is a strange shortcoming considering the caliber of the cast, including Thomas as the bride to be, and Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham and Scarlett Johansson as her daughters. But it's a cruel reminder that a good hook, talented actors, one killer monologue and a picturesque setting (in this case, the English countryside) aren't guarantees that a movie will work. In the film, the deaths may be in the distant past, but they continue to haunt Diana's (Thomas) adult daughters as she prepares to marry another. Diana's new man is not a dashing pilot, forever preserved in handsome youth. Geoffrey (James Fleet) is very gray. He likes to talk about birds, ospreys in particular, has never had children and comes with a very silly last name (Loveglove) that she plans to take. Her girls are not exactly impressed, though they've all got their own stuff to deal with. It should be said that Johansson is indeed playing a British woman in this film, and while I don't feel qualified to comment on the nuances of her accent, all I can say is that there is a consistently strange disconnect to hear it coming out of her mouth. Johansson is a great actor who I've believed in many wilder roles, from Marvel movies right on down to her Ellen Greene riff during 'Saturday Night Live's' 50th anniversary show. But, somehow, she's hard to buy as Katherine Frost: A British, lesbian Royal Navy officer in a longtime relationship with a woman named Jack (played by fellow beauty Freida Pinto). Miller's character is Victoria, a Hollywood actor known for franchise dreck (no one can remember whether the latest 'Dame Of Darkness' is the fourth or fifth in the series) and short-lived relationships. And Beecham is the youngest Georgina, a nurse who suspects that her husband is having an affair. To find out, the girls hire a private detective to surveil her house and show them the footage after the wedding. It's a very busy, fraught weekend for everyone. There's lots of fretting over why Katherine won't marry Jack, and why Victoria is dancing around a relationship with a wealthy, older French man when her childhood crush still pines for her. There's lingering anxiety about their mom marrying this man who seems so unlike the two heroes that came before and much discussion about the importance of last names, marriage and making sure kids feel like they belong to someone. Some things get resolved, but it's hard to shake the feeling that everyone might need a new therapist by the end. 'My Mother's Wedding' also has a silly lightness to it that's aiming for something along the lines of a Richard Curtis romantic comedy. But coherency of the vision is limited, as is the audience's investment, though there are some lovely and inspired touches like using Iranian artist Reza Riahi to hand paint several animated flashback vignettes based on her memories of her fathers. Thomas co-wrote the script with her husband, journalist John Micklethwait, which includes a particularly poignant monologue for her character telling her daughters, essentially, to grow up and move on — a mature and worthy statement that might come a bit too late. 'My Mother's Wedding' feels only partially realized. But Thomas did have the good sense to end with a song that might just conjure up some feelings for any 'Heartburn' fans out there: Carly Simon's 'Coming Around Again,' this time a duet with Alanis Morissette. 'My Mother's Wedding,' a Vertical release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 'brief nudity, some sexual material and language.' Running time: 95 minutes. Two stars out of four.
