Diana, Princess of Wales’ wedding gown, which she wore 40 years ago, will be on exhibit at her old Kensington Palace residence.
The outfit has been lent to the exhibition by the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, which opens a month before Princess Diana would have turned 60.
It was created by David and Elizabeth Emanuel for Diana and Charles’ wedding in July 1981.
The gown included a sequin-encrusted train that stretched 25 feet (7.6 meters) down the aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Organizers of the exhibition, Royal Style in the Making, say the dress is “now among the most famous in bridal history”.
A fitted bodice is topped with ancient Carrickmacross lace panels that formerly belonged to Queen Mary.
With its enormous puffed sleeves accented with bows and deep taffeta ruffles, it was very much in line with early 1980s fashion as well as a homage to history.
Ms. Emanuel recalls Princess Diana calling her and her then-husband to ask them to create her outfit in a video exhibited at the exhibition.
“It was one of those strange moments where you know your life is never going to be the same again,” she said.
Princes William and Harry have also loaned their mother’s going-away outfits to the display, in addition to her wedding gown.
The Kensington Palace Orangery is hosting an exhibition that looks at creating an outfit for a royal client and includes those who clothed the Queen, Princess Margaret, and the Queen Mother.
It will be available to the public on June 3 and will run until early January 2022.
It also includes a rare surviving toile – an early prototype of a completed garment – for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s coronation gown worn by King George VI in 1937.
