Princess Diana's Wedding Dress Will Be On Display for the Public for the First Time in Decades
Princess Diana's Wedding Dress Will Be On Display for the Public for the First Time in Decades
The late Princess Diana's wedding dress - a global fashion staple - will soon be going on display for the public for the first time in decades.
Scroll on to find out the details...
Now, it all started in 1977.
At the young age of twenty, Lady Diana Spencer became the world's obsession when it was revealed she was dating the future King of England, Prince Charles.
The pair married on July 29th, 1981, at St. Paul's Cathedral.
The wedding, which today remains as one of the most infamous ceremonies in modern history, was watched by over 750 million people around the world.
And, soon after, the pair welcomed their first baby into the world.
The pair announced their pregnancy just 4 months after tying the knot, and, on June 21st of 1982, they welcomed Prince William into the world.
Prince Harry arrived 2 years later on September 15th, 1984.
However, despite keeping up appearances, things weren't quite so content in the relationship between Charles and Diana.
Rumors of Charles' infidelity were rife as the princess secretly battled with anxiety and a grueling eating disorder.
But, in spite of their marital difficulties...
One thing Diana was absolutely dedicated to was being a mother. She had strong ideas about how she wanted her kids to be raised, often giving them more freedom than traditional royal heirs.
And, of course, Diana was known and loved for her extensive charity work.
She was determined to use her massive platform to better the world and dedicated her life to many noble causes, including the land mine crisis. The princess shocked the world when she walked through a dangerous land mine zone in Cambodia, something no other royal had ever done in the past.
And it was this independence that was the likely factor in the breakdown of her marriage with Charles.
On top of Diana's refusal to sacrifice her identity for the sake of her title, she and Charles also had a thirteen-year age gap, which seemingly started to become a problem.
Charles was also allegedly in a long-standing affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, even wearing cufflinks she bought him on his honeymoon with Diana.
Charles and Diana eventually split in 1996.
And, by 1997, Diana was dating business mogul and son of Harrods owner, Dodi Fayed.
Many speculated that the relationship was controversial to the royal family due to the fact that Fayed was a Muslim.
But on August 31st, 1997, tragedy struck.
The car that the two were traveling in through the Pont L'Alma tunnel in Paris suffered a horrendous crash, which was fatal for both Diana and Dodi, plus their driver, Henri Paul.
The princess was tragically pronounced dead a few hours later.
Her death, understandably, shook the world.
The totally unexpected nature of her passing, alongside the fact that she was such a well-loved public figure, made her death and funeral into something of a media circus.
Diana's funeral was televised and held on September 6th, 1997.
It garnered viewing figures of over thirty-two million in the U.K, breaking all viewing records up to that point.
Millions more watched and mourned around the world.
But, fast-forwarding to today, Diana's memory is still very much alive.
Her legacy and charitable efforts live on in her sons, William and Harry, and countless documentaries about her life in and out of the royal family have been released.
But there's one thing that Diana is perhaps remembered the most for...
And that's her iconic wedding dress.
The gown was designed by prestigious British designers, Elizabeth and David Emanuel...
And it was made with an ivory silk taffeta and antique lace gown, with a twenty-five-foot train and a 153-yard tulle veil.
After making its debut at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981, the gown became one of the most famous in the world...
And it continues to be one of the most recognized wedding dresses ever to this very day.
The dress hasn't been seen in public for decades...
But now, fans of the late princess will soon be able to get a glimpse of the stunning gown because both William and Harry have given their permission to have their mom's gown included as the centerpiece of a new temporary exhibition called Royal Style in the Making, opening on June 3rd in the Orangery of Kensington Palace.
According to Vanity Fair, this will be the first time the wedding gown will be on display there since the princess was in residence...
And the show will examine the relationship between fashion designers and their royal clients throughout the years.
Matthew Storey, the exhibition curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said in a statement:
"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."
He went on:
"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 show-stopping Emanuel designed wedding dress, which goes on show at the palace for the first time in twenty-five years – we've got some real surprises up our sleeve for fashion fans!"
Elizabeth Emanuel told People that getting to visit her creation at the exhibition, "will be like seeing an old friend after all these years."
"I was looking at the images again today and I can't believe how many sequins we sewed onto the dress. This is going to be a wonderful exhibition," she said.
You can see a snippet of the exhibition here:
And for more on the royals, scroll on...
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