Even if you weren’t one of the 750 million people who tuned in to watch the televised royal wedding of Princess Diana Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, even if you weren’t even born yet, the image of that wedding dress is likely etched in your brain. Designed by David and Elizabeth Emmanuel, the gown is immortalised as one of the most influential pieces of fashion history and catapulted the late royal to style icon status. Between the 25-foot train, larger-than-life puffed-up sleeves and the layers of silk taffeta that seemingly defy gravity, the gown was a true ’80s dream—and is still the benchmark for any royal bride.
But as we’ve found out now, the iconic look could’ve been quite different.
Designer Elizabeth Emmanuel has revealed a “spare” gown that she and ex-husband David created for the royal, even sharing the original sketches with HELLO!.
“The spare wedding gown was made just in case the secret of the real dress ever got out. Fortunately, it was never used,” she told the outlet. “The dress was made in pale ivory silk taffeta with embroidered scalloped details on the hem and sleeves. Tiny pearls were sewn on the bodice.”
As the sketches show, the backup look followed a similar train of thought to her main wedding dress, including a pearl-embroidered bodice (likely less than the 10,000 used to create the final look) and V-neck, but with a more understated ruffled trim. The sleeves were always to be a three-quarter length but could’ve lost the impact of the puffs for a sleek fluted shape, while the princess skirt was to feature heavy embroidery and a scalloped hem.
“People always ask you what it was like. It was similar in certain respects, and both had the big skirt, but everything else was different,” explained the 70-year-old designer, adding that the look has since gone missing. “It was really just a backup to the original, and I don’t know where it went. It just disappeared.”
The designer also revealed the clever lengths they went to in order to keep the design under embargo.
“We had the dress stored every night in a metal cabinet guarded by two guards, Jim and Bert. So there was somebody there 24 hours a day, and we put shutters on all our windows, and we put false colour threads in the rubbish bins because people were going through our bins,” she said.
While we all know the marriage didn’t last, and the dress is a far cry from modern silhouettes, Princess Diana’s bridal look still inspires awe to this day.
