Diana’s wedding dress designer ‘felt weak’ when she saw her

Princess Diana’s wedding dress designer said she “felt weak” when she saw the dress on the big day.

The dress, which cost around £9,000 to make, was designed by Elizabeth and David Emanuel and featured over 10,000 beads.

The couple spent months creating the royal wedding dress, going to great lengths to ensure the design was kept under wraps.

The fabrics included 25 yards of silk taffeta, 100 yards of tulle crinoline, and 150 yards of netting for the veil.

It was then followed by a train made of 25 feet of hand-embroidered silk.

But when the designers saw Diana in church, they were horrified by the crinkling of the dress.

The dress was much more wrinkled than the designers expected
(Image: Getty Images)

Elizabeth recalled the moment she saw Diana getting out of her wedding car during an appearance on ITV’s Royal Wedding Invitation in 2018.

She said: “We knew it would crease a bit, but when I saw it coming to St Paul and we saw the crease, I actually felt weak.

“I was horrified, really, because it was a lot of creases. It was a lot more than we thought.”

They’d done a dress rehearsal beforehand, but they’d used a different fabric, so it wasn’t as wrinkled as it was on the day.

The dress, which cost around £9,000 to make, was designed by Elizabeth and David Emanuel and featured over 10,000 beads.
(Image: Getty Images)

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In addition to the famous dress, David and Elizabeth have created a backup in case it is needed in an emergency.

David told People: “At the time, we wanted to make sure the dress was a surprise.

“We didn’t try it on Diana. We never even discussed it. We wanted to make sure we had something there; it was for our own peace of mind, really.”

Diana called David after the ceremony to thank him for his work on the dress, according to HELLO!.

He said: “After all the pictures they went to the wedding breakfast and I went back to my studio in Mayfair. All my working ladies were there so we had a glass of champagne.

“We had a little party and just as I’m about to lock up the phone rings… I thought who was calling? It was Diana! She said, ‘I just wanted to say thank you so much for the dress. I loved. Prince Charles loved it. The whole family loved it.'”

He added: “It couldn’t have been more special for me to hear from the client. When you design for a bride, you want her to be happy. As long as the bride is happy, that’s All that matters. The fact that she took the time before she went on her honeymoon…that’s real kindness.”