Prince William and Prince Harry are lending their mother Princess Diana ’s iconic wedding gown to the Historic Royal Palaces’ upcoming “Royal Style in the Making” exhibition. The late Princess of Wales’ dress, designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, will go on display this summer at Kensington Palace in the newly-restored historic Orangery.
Visitors will be able to see Princess Diana’s “dress displayed complete with its spectacular sequin encrusted train, which at 25 feet dramatically filled the aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral, and remains the longest in royal history,” according to a press release.
© PA Images via Getty Images“The dress, on loan from The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex, is now among the most famous in bridal history, and 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, the groom’s great-grandmother,” the release continued.
Diana wore the gown, which featured a scooped neckline, large puffed sleeves trimmed with bows and deep ruffles of taffeta, for her royal wedding to Prince Charles in 1981. In addition to the Princess of Wales’ gown, a rare surviving toile for the 1937 coronation gown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother will also be on display.
The “Royal Style in the Making” exhibition will explore the intimate relationship between fashion designers and royal clients. The temporary exhibition, in partnership with Garrard and generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, is scheduled to open June 3 and will run until January 2, 2022.
In a statement, 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,” Matthew added. “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!”
