Here come the brides
And the royal bride wore... MARION McMULLEN looks at wedding dresses fit for a princess as preparations gather pace for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s big day
ALL eyes will be on THE dress when Meghan Markle walks down the aisle to marry her prince at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19.
She said in an interview with Glamour magazine two years ago that her dream wedding gown would be classic and simple with perhaps a modern twist. She said: “I personally prefer wedding dresses that are whimsical or subtly romantic.”
What the actual dress will look like is being kept top secret, but Meghan will be following in a long tradition of designer dresses and royal brides.
Prince Harry’s great-grandmother Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother, married the Duke of York – later King George VI – on April 26 in 1923.
She left her London home in Brunton Street for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey wearing a veil and a drop-waist embroidered ivory silk gown embroidered with pearls and a silver thread. It was designed by Queen Mary’s former court dressmaker, Madame Handley Seymour, and the bridal gown was also adorned with old lace loaned by Queen Mary.
Interest in the wedding was high in post-First World War Britain, but the ceremony was not broadcast on radio because the Archbishop of Canterbury feared some men might listen to it in public houses.
Rationing was still in force when Princess Elizabeth and Lt Philip Mountbatten married in 1947. Britain’s future queen used ration coupons to buy material for her ivory silk dress, which was designed by Norman Hartnell.
It was embroidered with 10,000 tiny white seed pearls, silver thread, sparkling crystals and transparent appliqué tulle embroidery and took a workforce of 350 women seven weeks to make.
Her sister Princess Margaret also wore a Norman Hartnell dress of silk organza when she married Antony Armstrong in 1960.
Princess Anne opted for a Tudor-style high-neck gown with trumpet sleeves designed by Maureen Baker of Susan Small when she wed her first husband Captain Mark Phillips in 1973. Her wedding attire was more low-key when it came to her second marriage to Timothy Laurence at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral Castle, in 1992. Her wedding outfit then consisted of a high-neck knee-length dress with a co-ordinating jacket and a floral headdress.
It felt like the whole world was watching when Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles in 1981 at St Paul’s Cathedral. Her ivory silk taffeta wedding dress was an eye-catching spectacle designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel.
It was valued at £9,000 and included a 25ft train and antique lace. The ensemble featured more than 10,000 pearls, a large taffeta bow and puffed sleeves and featured Queen Mary’s lace sewn on to the front. A back-up dress was also made... just in case there were any mishaps on the big day.
Sarah Ferguson wore an ivory duchesse satin and beaded wedding gown by British designer Lindka Cierach when she married Prince Andrew in 1986. The couple, who divorced 10 years later, were both represented in the dress that included anchors and waves for Prince Andrew and bumblebees and thistles inspired by Sarah’s family crest.
Sophie Rhys-Jones wore one of the Queen’s diamond tiaras when she married Prince Edward in 1999. Now known as the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Sophie’s V-necked, longsleeved wedding dress was designed by Samantha Shaw.
Kate Middleton chose a longsleeved lace dress designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen for her wedding to Prince William in 2011. It is thought to have cost around £40,000 and was hand stitched using the Carrickmoss lace-making technique by a team at the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace.
The embroiderers wore gloves and had to wash their hands every half an hour to keep the lace and thread in pristine condition.
The wedding dress featured a satin bodice and a silk tulle skirt and her bridal train measured just under 9ft.
Kate’s iconic wedding dress later went on display at Buckingham Palace and was immortalised in miniature form as a silver Monopoly piece to mark the royal couple’s first wedding anniversary.
However, Queen Victoria’s choice of a white wedding dress to Prince Albert in 1840 sent ripples through society. Colourful dresses were the usual choice for brides at the time, but Victoria decided it was time for something different.
She wrote of her wedding day in her private journal saying: “I wore a white satin dress, with a deep flounce of Honiton lace, an imitation of an old design. My jewels were my Turkish diamond necklace and earrings and dear Albert’s beautiful sapphire brooch.”
She described it as the happiest day of her life and said: “I felt so happy when the ring was put on, and by my precious Albert.”