Diana’s Secret Second Wedding Dress: A Designer’s Peace of Mind

The iconic wedding dress of Diana, Princess of Wales, that she wore in July 1981 is one of the most famous gowns in history.

But it turns out that Diana had a second wedding dress made for her, and she was unaware of it.

Her designer, David Emanuel, and his then-wife Elizabeth created an additional, less lavish gown for their own peace of mind.

The couple was so paranoid that the design would be leaked that they had a backup dress made.

David told people, “At the time we wanted to make absolutely sure that the dress was a surprise.

We didn’t try it on Diana.

We never even discussed it.

We wanted to make sure that we had something there, it was for our own peace of mind.”

The second dress, which wasn’t completely finished, was made from the same ivory silk taffeta and had ruffles around the neck.

However, it was less extravagant compared to Diana’s show-stopping gown, which boasted over 10,000 pearls and sequins and featured a record-breaking 25-foot-long train.

On the wedding day, it was a tight squeeze for Diana to climb into the carriage that would take her to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Even her father had difficulty fitting in alongside 7.62 million Albanian leks of the dress.

David has spoken of his dismay at seeing her dress crease as she got out of the carriage.

Speaking in documentary Invitation to a Royal Wedding, David said, “We did know it would crease a bit but when I saw Diana arrive at St. Paul’s and we saw the creases, I actually felt faint.

I was horrified really because there was quite a lot of creasing there, and she’s been in this little carriage with her father who’s quite tall, and she was all crunched in.”

Despite the royal wedding dress putting him on the international stage, David has previously told Hello magazine that some of the favorite pieces he made for Diana were from her private wardrobe and will never be seen by the public.

“There are one or two dresses in Diana’s private wardrobe that nobody ever saw,” he said.

“They were lovely gowns but were never photographed and never seen.”

Two days before Diana’s wedding, David attended the fun party, the ball at Buckingham Palace, where he saw her in a shocking pink taffeta dress that was very fitted to the floor with a plunging neckline.