Fashion lovers and royal followers will be able to get a closeup look at the dress Princess Diana wore at her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles as it went on public display Thursday at the late princess’s former home in London.
The taffeta-ruffled white dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, with its 25-foot (8 meter) sequin-encrusted train, helped seal the fairytale image of the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and the heir to the British throne.
Diana’s children, the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, have loaned the gown to the London exhibition, “Royal Style in the Making” which opens to the public on 3 June and continues until Jan. 2, 2022.
The temporary exhibition looks at what it is like to design an outfit for a royal client. The dress that Diana wore when she married “is now among the most famous in bridal history”, organisers say.
It features a fitted bodice overlaid at the centre both front and back with panels of antique Carrickmacross lace that had originally belonged to Queen Mary. It also has a scooped neckline and large puffed sleeves that are trimmed with bows and deep ruffles of taffeta – a style made popular by Diana in the early 80s.
Its designers, David and Elizabeth Emanuel, also crafted a full skirt for the dress that is supported on a mountain of stiff net petticoats.
The exhibit also features sketches, photographs and gowns designed for three generations of royal women, including Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother.
Original sketches, fabric swatches and unseen photographs from the royal ceremonial dress collection will also be on show.
An array of glittering gowns and stylish tailoring created for three generations of royal women is also billed to be among the items going on display at the Kensington Palace Orangery.