When Princess Diana, next 20 years old, wed King Charles III, the 32-year-old Prince of Wales, she called Elizabeth Emanuel’s little studio to inquire if she would hand her the honor of creating her bridal gown. In that time, the young artist was tasked with making a gown as distinct as the Women’s Princess. She exceeded Diana and the country’s expectations—creating what is the most recognized bridal dress of the last decade.
The dress, which is utterly remarkable and unmatched, inspired lots of copycat gowns and continues to capture brides’ mind to this day. From the moment Di stepped into St. Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981—for a union witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people—the gown became ubiquitous, but it wasn’t always that way. To add to the centerpiece’s excitement, the people had no notion who was behind the clothing or what it would look like. And, this clothing is packed full of tricks.
Forward, we break down all the details and mysteries behind Diana’s bridal gown, some of which Emanuel herself revealed to InStyle. We spoke with the designer during the “Styling Princess Diana” show at Fotografiska that day, May 21, 2024, which was a part of.
Di’s famous wedding dress is a silk taffeta creation that was created using an ivory dye instead of the classic bright light. It features a pretty neck, ruffled cuffs, puffed sleeves, a fitted bodice, a massive ballgown skirt, exquisite lace detailing, complex embroidery, 10, 000 mother- of- pearl sequins, and, of course, a stunning 25- foot train. The cornerstone was a family task, as it was designed by Emanuel and her former partner, David Emanuel, Elizabeth Emanuel’s mother, Brahna Betty Weiner, also worked on the stitching.
The 25-foot train is the longest in royal wedding dress history, surpassing all previous records set by the designers. “I wanted to take the train with it always. We had a little bit of a laugh when we spoke to Diana about it. We said, ‘Let’s make it longer than anybody else’s train,'” Emanuel recalled. “And we looked it up, and by doing it 25 feet, it was longer than anybody else’s. We had a lot of fun. It was enjoyable to do.”
The larger- than- life addition came with some hurdles, including having to be in order to fit it into the carriage. Additionally, once the princess arrived at the cathedral, it took the designer duo and some of Di’s bridesmaids to straighten it out.
Even larger than the train was the bride’s sparkly veil, which was a whopping 153 yards of tulle. The headpiece was hand- stitched by Peggy Umpleby of embroidery S. Lock ( now called Hand & Lock ) and decorated with 10, 000 micro pearls. Emanuel fondly remembers it added a “magical radiance” to her fairytale frock.
Every precaution was taken by The Emanuels to protect the gown.
Emanuel recalls her phone call to Di as it happened yesterday. Diana requested that Diana’s dress be made by the Emanuels, but she also requested that it be kept a sworn secret. The Emanuels treated Di’s plea with the utmost seriousness. Every night, two security personnel, Jim and Burt, kept the gown locked up in a metal cabinet, kept the shutters on their windows closed, and even dumped fabric scraps in the garbage to frighten journalists who had smelt the dress’s scent.
The Emanuels lacked instructions from the palace.
Emanuel recalled having complete “free reign” in the dress design process, with no requests for a guardrail or request from Buckingham Palace. From the get- go, they knew they “needed a big dress” to fill the grand space of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and they “wanted it to stand out and look very different”. But, above all, they wanted it to be something Diana “really loved”.
“It was a fabulous time, the 80s. It was all about romance and frills…the style that we had at that time was very big skirts, ruffles, and all of that”, Emanuel said. “When Diana came to see us, that’s what she really liked. The goal was to create a princess fairy dress.”
The duo referenced books and historical photos, such as Queen Victoria’s wedding dress, and drew up tons of sketches. Their initial inspiration, however, was a dress Diana tried on from their sampler range, which had a cinched waist and puffy sleeves. Both the princess and the designers saw that style as the winning formula—from there, they set out to create a version that couldn’t be copied.
Elizabeth Emanuel Nearly Disfigured When She Saw Diana
And not in the way you’re thinking. Emanuel was “in the dress. She was expecting some, as is normal with taffeta, but not the resulting amount, which came from having to fold the train.
Diana’s dress was sewn into it.
Over the 90- something days the Emanuels had to make the dress, Emanuel said Diana went from a 26/27 inch waist to a 23- inch waist”. Because she kept losing weight, we kept cutting into the fabric, and in the end, we simply had to cut away. But we had to keep inputting it, she said during the Fotografiska panel. In the end, they had to sew Diana into the dress the morning of the wedding to make sure it was a perfect fit.
Emanuel claimed that they “didn’t see the dress” properly “until the wedding day at Buckingham Palace, because their studio was too small to extend the train all the way out.”
There Was a Secret Back- Up Dress
The design duo prepped for every wedding disaster, including if the dress was stolen, set on fire, royally stained, or some other tragic accident. They even created a secret backup dress, which had fitted sleeves, a bright white hue, and no train and was different from Diana’s from the one she wore down the aisle. It did, however, keep consistent with the original’s frilly collar, ruffled cuffs, big skirt, fitted bodice, lace accents, and hand- stitched embroidery. Emanuel claimed that they only completed it three-quarters of the way because it felt “unlucky” to finish it and that they only wanted to have something to give them some peace of mind. She also claimed that Diana had no idea that it was possible because they “didn’t want to panic her” with the knowledge that there was a plan in place.
After all the vows and kisses were exchanged, the Emanuels forgot about the backup dress, and one way or another, it vanished. However, Emanuel brought it back to life in 2024, based on the “about 500 pictures” they took at the time.
The duo also brought any and everything they could possibly need for the big day, including a spare skirt for the original dress, back in 1981. I took things like glucose tablets and safety pins and tissues, “Emanuel remembered. You name it, I had it in my bag just in case there was an emergency.”
As if their task wasn’t ambitious enough, the designers also made the bridesmaid dresses.
Diana adorned the Bridal Gown
Barbara Daly, Diana’s wedding makeup artist, wrote about the incident in her book. She shared that Diana dipped her favorite scent, Quelques Fleurs by Houbigant, on the skirt of her dress. As she appeared to be not trying to step on the stained spot, Daly advised her to hold the spot as she proceeded.
Good thing Emanuel had plans for mishaps like that, but she didn’t realize it was going to happen. “I didn’t know anything about the perfume stain,” she told InStyle. “They didn’t tell me… I read about it.”
There Was Something Borrowed and Something Blue.
On the day of her union, Diana adhered to all Victorian customs. The square of Carrickmacross lace that once belonged to Queen Mary was the embodiment of something old, and the rest of the lace was created in Nottingham in a way that resembles Queen Mary’s lace. Meanwhile, her something new was the dress itself. The Spencer Tiara, a family heirloom that was originally owned by Lady Cynthia Hamilton, her grandmother, was something that Di borrowed. It was a collection of diamonds that were shaped like tulips and stars.
Finally, the Emanuels added a small blue ribbon to the waist of the dress, along with a small 18-carat gold horseshoe trinket sewn into the gown for good fortune. Emanuel claimed that Douglas Buchanan, a master jeweler, came up with the idea for the white diamond-studded charm.
“Every element was considered,” Emanuel said. “We tried to get everything British, as well. Even the silk used to make the veil, they managed to squeeze a little British silk into it. There weren’t enough butterflies to do the whole thing, but we got some in the silk veil.”
Diana’s Accessories Were Just as Fantastical
The princess was, of course, adorned with her gorgeous sapphire engagement ring. She wore diamond earrings, which had 50 smaller ones surrounding her and a pearl-shaped diamond in the center, from her mother Frances Shand Kydd, to enhance her allure. Her magical Cinderella slippers were created by cobbler Clive Shilton, like her dress, they were also ivory and featured a heart design on the toe, 542 sequins, 132 pearls, a painted C and D with a heart just below the heel (for, you guessed it “Charles” and “Diana”), lace floral appliqués, and a low heel (so she wouldn’t tower over the groom). For a last touch, she carried a bouquet of gardenia, stephanotis, odontoglossum orchid, lily of the valley, Earl Mountbatten rose, freesia, veronica, ivy, myrtle, and tradescantia flowers.
Once again, the ever- prepared Emanuels thought of everything: Emanuel said they created a matching parasol in case it rained.
Diana gave her sons access to her wedding gown.
After the royal couple exchanged their vows, the gown traveled the world, appearing in museums and exhibits all over the world. In 2014, per Diana’s will, it was passed down to Prince William and Prince Harry, following Harry’s 30th birthday.