Publications
It’s something that will no doubt lure royal fashion fans from around the world.
Kensington Palace is gearing up for a new exhibition that will showcase Princess Diana’s iconic wedding dress.
Prince William and Prince Harry reportedly gave their permission for their mother’s dress to be unveiled as the centrepiece for the temporary exhibition called Royal Style in the Making, which opens on 3 June.
According to Matthew Storey, exhibition curator at Historic Royal Palaces, the exhibition sets to “explore the relationship between fashion designers and royal clients”.
“It 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 20th century.
“While one of the highlights will undoubtedly be Diana’s 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.”
One of these includes a rare surviving toile from the 1937 coronation gown of the Queen Mother.
Diana’s gown was designed by UK pair Elizabeth and David Emanuel and included a 7.6m train famously seen draped over the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral on her wedding day to Prince Charles on 29 July 1981.
To this day it remains the longest train in royal history. “I can’t wait to see it,” Elizabeth (67) told People. “It will be like seeing an old friend after all these years. This is going to be a wonderful exhibition.”
The last time she saw the gown was when it was displayed at Diana’s ancestral home, Althorp, in an exhibition in July 1998, a year after her death.
The exhibition kicks off several commemorative events in honour of what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday on 1 July.
William and Harry are set to reunite to finally unveil a new statue of their mother they commissioned in 2017 at Kensington Palace to mark the 20th anniversary of her death, and recognise her positive impact in the UK and around the world.
Royal insiders are hoping the statue will also have a positive impact on the relationship between her estranged sons, which has taken a serious knock after Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March in which they accused the palace of racism, among other things.
SOURCES: PEOPLE.COM, VANITYFAIR.COM
