Princess Diana on her wedding day, 1981
Fox Photos / Getty Images
What goes into creating a royal fashion moment - from a highly-anticipated wedding dress, to a coronation outfit? That question is set to be explored in a new exhibition at Kensington Palace as it reopens to the public in June, Royal Style in the Making, with the late Diana, Princess of Wales' famous wedding gown taking centre stage.
The unique and intimate relationship between the Royal Family and their couturiers will be laid out in detail, with original sketches, fabric swatches and unseen photographs from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection shown alongside the dresses themselves in order to demonstrate how ideas become historical reality.
Details of Princess Diana's wedding dress
Historic Royal Palaces
Diana's wedding dress is one of the most famous in fashion history. Designed in secret by the then-married couple, David and Elizabeth Emanuel, it epitomised 1980s excess, with a 25-foot train that filled the aisle of St Paul's Cathedral, layer upon layer of taffeta and antique Carrickmacross lace that had belonged to Queen Mary. It is on loan to the exhibition by her sons, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex.
Princess Diana's wedding dress
Historic Royal Palaces
‘Our summer exhibition at Kensington Palace will shine a spotlight on some of the greatest talents of British design, whose work has been instrumental in shaping the visual identity of the royal family across the twentieth century,' said Matthew Storey, exhibition curator at Historic Royal Palaces. 'We’ll be exploring how the partnership between each designer and client worked, and revealing the process behind the creation of a number of the most important couture commissions in royal history. While one of the highlights will undoubtedly be Diana, Princess of Wales’s showstopping Emanuel designed wedding dress - which goes on show at the palace for the first time in 25 years – we’ve got some real surprises up our sleeve for fashion fans!’
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth after the coronation, 1937
Express Newspapers / Getty Images
Another exciting piece going on display hails from 1937, when King George VI was crowned. It is a rare surviving toile of the gown that his consort, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, wore for the occasion, created by Madame Handley-Seymour, a favourite couturier of the Royal Family at the time, particularly King George VI's mother, Queen Mary. She had previously created her wedding dress, for her 1923 nuptials to the then Duke of York. She also designed for the Duchess of Devonshire, as well as for several theatrical productions, including My Fair Lady.
The Queen Mother's coronation dress
Historic Royal Palaces
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