Princess Diana’s iconic wedding dress has gone on display at Kensington Palace as part of a new royal fashion exhibition.
Princes William and Harry, who technically own the dress, have loaned it to Historic Royal Palaces to form a centrepiece of the Royal Style in the Making exhibition which opens today.
The exhibition will offer visitors a sneak peek into the rarefied world of the atelier, unpicking how some of Britain’s finest designers rose to the challenge of creating clothing destined for the world stage.
Diana’s dress will be on show until January, alongside never-before-seen items from the archives of some of the most celebrated royal couturiers.
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Complete with its 25 ft train - the longest in royal history - it is set alongside examples of the stylish ensembles created for Princess Diana, the Queen and the Queen Mother.
The exhibition also tracks the development of Diana's style from her peach 'going away' honeymoon outfit to the sleek evening gowns she wore more than a decade later.
Among the star items on display will be a rare surviving toile for the 1937 coronation gown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, consort of King George VI.
Created by London based court designer Madame Handley-Seymour - a favoured couturier of the dowager Queen Mary with an innate understanding of the rules and tradition of royal dress – the silk satin gown with its golden national emblems was the perfect choice to embody continuity at the start of an unexpected new reign.
The toile is an extraordinary full-size working pattern of the completed gown, and features the stunning design for the embroidery hand-painted onto it, highlighting the attention to detail required in planning for such an important state occasion.
Matthew Storey, exhibition curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said: “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.
“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 25 years – we’ve got some real surprises up our sleeve for fashion fans!”
Visit hrp.org.uk/Kensington-Palace/whats-on/royal-style-in-the-making for more information.
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