Forty years to this day, Princess Diana married Prince Charles in a fairytale ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral.
Decades later, her huge wedding dress is still considered one of the most iconic gowns of all time.
On the day of the wedding, the world was in awe when they got their first glimpse of Diana in the ivory silk taffeta and antique lace dress.
And it glistened in all of its glory as she walked down the aisle of St Paul's to meet her husband-to-be waiting for her at the altar.
Before the wedding, the designers, David and Elizabeth Emanuel, went to great lengths to keep the design a secret.
And on the day of the nuptials, a spillage and a cramped carriage ride nearly spelt disaster for the gown.
Here's the inside story...
The dress designers
When Prince Charles announced his engagement to Lady Diana Spencer in February 1981 - talk immediately turned to who would design the all-important dress.
And that job fell to young designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who were fresh out of fashion school.
The couple, who are now divorced, had previously worked with the late princess and were personally requested by her to make the dress.
Love the royals? Sign up for the Mirror's daily newsletter to get all the latest news on the Queen, Charles, Kate, Wills, Meghan, Harry and the rest of The Firm. Click here to sign up .
And Elizabeth recalled getting the request from Diana to design the gown - at a time when the couple were busy and flustered at work.
She told British Vogue: "I ran upstairs in annoyance and must have sounded a tad impatient before realising it was Diana. I was in shock!
“My poor half-dressed client downstairs must have heard so much thumping as David and I celebrated the decision that ultimately changed our lives.”
Keeping it secret
Once it was revealed that the Emanuels were going to be the designers of the gown - they went to great lengths to keep their creation a secret.
In fact, the couple even destroyed their sketches straight after they'd been shown to Diana to make sure they could never fall into the wrong hands.
And another tactic they employed was being extra careful with scrap material.
Elizabeth told the ITV documentary Invitation To A Royal Wedding: "I kept every scrap and we had to be very careful not to let any scraps fall on the floor because we didn’t want them to end up in the rubbish.
"We had a lot of journalists going through the rubbish to see what colour the dress was, so I kept them pretty much as they were on the cutting table. Every thread was important as far as I was concerned."
Diana's final dress fitting took place on Wednesday, July 22, 1981 - just a few days before the wedding.
People lined the streets to get a glimpse of her leaving the fitting and photographers lined up with ladders outside.
Backup dress
The designers were so concerned about the dress design being leaked, a second dress was created as a backup option.
Even Diana herself didn't know it existed.
David told People : "At the time we wanted to make absolutely sure that the dress was a surprise.
"We didn’t try it on Diana. We never even discussed it. We wanted to make sure that we had something there; it was for our own peace of mind, really."
According to MailOnline, the secret back-up dress was similar to the gown she wore and had frilly sleeves and a defined waist - although it was much plainer.
But fortunately, the designers didn't have to use it.
Fittings and shrinking waist
David previously revealed that Diana came alone to her first few fittings, before inviting her mother along.
In an interview with The Express, he described the princess as "young and fresh".
He added: "I wanted the dress to reflect that but she was going in as Lady Diana Spencer and coming out as the Princess of Wales."
Meanwhile, Elizabeth revealed that work on the dress had to be restarted several times, as, over a four-month period, Diana lost five inches from her waist.
Speaking on Channel 5's documentary Charles and Di: The Truth Behind their Royal Wedding, she said: "She did lose weight. She was losing so much we even had to start again a few times, even after cutting into the fabric. Her waist was a size 23 at the end."
Record-breaking train and finer details
Once completed the dress had a record-breaking 25ft train, which is the longest in royal history.
To make sure it would fit down the aisle, the Emanuels are said to have secretly measured St Paul's Cathedral with a tape measure.
A staggering 10,000 mother of pearl sequins and pearls were sewn onto it as well as a piece of antique Carrickmacross lace that once belonged to Prince Charles’s great-grandmother, Queen Mary.
Elizabeth said: "It was all about drama and making Diana a fairytale princess.
"The gown was typical of early 80s style – overblown, romantic, flouncy – but we had to get it right because we knew it would go down in history."
It is reported that the dress cost £9,000 at the time.
Perfume spill
While getting ready for her big day Diana wanted to wear her favourite Quelques Fleurs perfume.
But disaster almost struck when she spilled a tiny bit of the fragrance, causing a stain on her dress.
However, according to her make-up artist on the day Barbra Daly, Diana was able to cover the stain by tucking in the front of her dress.
Luckily, she also had a large cascading bouquet to hold as she walked down the aisle, which also covered the mark.
Designers' horror
After finally getting ready on the morning of her big day at Clarence House, Diana took a carriage ride through London with her father to St Paul's for the ceremony.
For most people, their first glimpse of the dress was when she exited the carriage and made her way up the steps of the cathedral.
But the initial sight of the dress left Elizabeth horrified.
She said: "We did know it would crease a bit but when I saw her arrive at St Paul's and we saw the creasing I actually felt faint.
"I was horrified because it was quite a lot of creasing.
"It was a lot more than we thought."
They had done a dress rehearsal but using a different material, and it wasn't anywhere near as bad.
But Elizabeth now says that looking back, that moment was actually her favourite shot of the Princess in the dress, and compares it to a caterpillar coming out of a cocoon and becoming a butterfly.
The dress now
The dress is now technically owned by Diana's sons Princes William and Harry but for those wanting to see it in person - they can.
It is currently on display at Kensington Palace as part of a royal fashion exhibition.
The princes have loaned the gown to Historic Royal Palaces and it forms the centrepiece of the Royal Style in the Making exhibition.
It will be on show until January 2022, alongside never-before-seen items from the archives of some of the most celebrated royal couturiers.
