Flashback to July 29, 1981: Princess Diana climbed the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London to marry Prince Charles. Anyway, her gorgeous wedding dress was the definition of a fairytale, but little did Lady Diana know (and the millions watching on television) that the designer of the precious gown had crafted a second, mystery dress!
Yes, you read that right! 43 years after the iconic wedding, Elizabeth Emanuel, who famously made Lady Diana’s gown, spilled some royal tea. The prolific designer had a backup dress as a precautionary measure for unforeseen circumstances, including a freak stealing the dress or food accidents:
“I was a bit neurotic, and I thought, ‘What happens if somebody breaks in and steals the dress or something spills or there’s a fire or it gets stolen?’ “So I thought, ‘I’m gonna make a backup dress.'”
This extra dress had some big differences from the famous one Princess Diana wore on her big day. What are those, you might ask? Well, it was lacking a long train and the silk was white, not ivory like the original dress. In addition, the designs on the first version of the gown were hand-embroidered by Elizabeth. In comparison, the backup version had them ready-made.
And just like that, we got some retro royal tea. Who doesn’t love some fashion secrets from the royalty?
