Princess Diana’s Wedding Gown Had a 25-Foot Train, 10,000 Sequins, and 1 Secret Backup Dress, According to the Designer

A 25-foot train, 10,000 mother-of-pearl sequins, and a 153-yard veil—these are just a few of the iconic elements that mark the most remembered and recognized wedding dress of the last century: Princess Diana’s bridal gown. The striking taffeta creation spawned hundreds of copycat dresses over the years, and still inspires today. However, little did the world—and Princess Di, herself—know that the young bride almost walked into St. Paul’s cathedral on July 29, 1981, wearing something else.

Designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel took every precaution to keep Diana’s dress safe and discreet, including having two security guards, Jim and Burt, watch over the dress; locking it up in a metal cabinet; closing the shutters on their windows; and putting scraps of fabric in the garbage to throw journalists off their scent of what the dress looked like. 

The design duo prepped for every wedding disaster, including if the dress was stolen, set on fire, royally stained, or some other tragic mishap. They even designed a secret backup dress. 

In the end, the designers only completed about three-quarters of the piece, as Elizabeth Emanuel told InStyle, saying that she felt it was “unlucky” to finish it. After Diana and then-Prince of Wales, King Charles III, exchanged their vows in front of millions, the Emanuels forgot about the reserve gown. One way or another, the dress “vanished” and was forgotten by history—that is, until now.

Forty-three years later, Emanuel finally finished the “dress that never was,” recreating her ‘80s design as accurately as possible from photographs. The replica, which was commissioned by Renae Plant, director and curator of The Princess Diana Museum, shined in all its glory on display for one night only, on May 21, 2024, at New York City’s Fotografiska as part of an exhibit celebrating People magazine's 50th anniversary. Along with the display, Emanuel and Princess Diana’s hairstylist, Richard Dalton, joined Plant for a panel discussion about what it was like to style, know, and love The People’s Princess, moderated by People’s Senior Royals Editor Erin Hill.

Stunning in its own right, the backup dress has a few key differences from the one the princess ultimately wore down the aisle. It has a bright white hue (as opposed to ivory), fitted sleeves (instead of puffy ones), and no record-breaking train—in fact, it has no train at all. The gown does, however, keep consistent with the original’s frilly neckline, ruffled cuffs, voluminous skirt, fitted bodice, delicate lace detailing, and intricate embroidery.

“It’s actually such an important part of this whole journey of the royal wedding dress,” Emanuel shared with InStyle. Remaking the dress helped the British designer relive the experience and remember Diana. She was able to reflect on the life-changing moment she picked up the phone in her studio to hear Diana’s voice on the other line. She also remembers the project as a family affair—something she shared with her ex-husband, who codesigned the dress, and her mom, who helped with the embroidery.

“It's our history. The whole narrative of it changed our lives,” she explained. “I knew that at that moment [she called] that our lives were never going to be the same again.”

After being tapped by the princess, the Emanuels had complete free reign to create. Diana and the royal family shared absolutely no instructions or guardrails for the designers, and Emanuel jokes they could’ve made it “pink polka dots” if they wanted to. 

With only three months to pull it off, the design team wanted to make something grand, dramatic, and romantic: the ultimate “fairy tale dress,” according to Emanuel. The challenge was to design something that would complement Diana’s radiance and hold its own in the massive St. Paul’s Cathedral (and, ultimately, overflow out of the carriage). As young “students,” they were ambitious.

“I think that’s why the dress was so special because we were a perfect match,” Emanuel said during the Fotografiska event panel. “With Diana, there was an innocence about her. There was an innocence about us, you know, the first time doing a dress like that.”

Fitting after fitting, pearl after pearl, they honed the dress over 90-something days. “[It was] made with love, absolute love, because we all adored her so much, and we really wanted her to love that dress.”

Despite a small mishap (Emanuel has shared that she “felt faint” after seeing all the creasing on the dress while watching the wedding), Diana’s entrance on the big day had a surreal, otherworldly quality to it. “She came out the coach and went up the steps, and the wind caught her veil and all the sparkles in the veil, it was like magic,” Emanuel remembered. She still gets “chills” when she thinks about it.

The Emanuels’ matchup with the princess, who was 19 at the time, not only gave the world a wedding dress unlike any other but also catalyzed Diana’s fashion journey. “In the early days, she didn't really know what suited her, so she would just leave it up to us. And then as we got to know her, what was interesting [was] that she found her style,” Emanuel said.

She points to the statement-making strapless black gown Diana wore to a gala charity concert on May 22, 1981, and the daring hot-pink number the princess wore to her pre-wedding ball, both designed by the Emanuels, as other key moments in her fashion evolution. They were a stark contrast to Diana’s usual high-neck dress, full skirts, and cardigans. 

“That was the transformation. That was the minute that she turned into this beautiful, sophisticated fashion icon, future princess. With that [black] dress,” Emanuel said.

Neither the current wedding dress replica nor the original backup dress were ever touched or seen by Diana—Elizabeth didn’t want her to “panic” with the knowledge of a contingency plan—but the replica remains an important addendum to fashion history and a reminder of Diana’s kind spirit. Elizabeth remembers the Princess as wonderful, spontaneous, lovely, genuinely caring, a one-off person, and of course, “great fun.” But above all, down-to-earth despite her fairytale wedding and public life.

According to Emanuel, Diana “looked after” the duo while they worked, driving her and David around and making them coffee. “She was just, when I say ‘ordinary,’ I mean it in the nicest way, sort of normal. Just like a pal, really,” the designer added.

Today, Emanuel is embarking on another project in Diana’s memory, which she has termed the “Sequel Dress.” The new design is a modern reimagination of the 1981 wedding dress. “There's going to be elements because it's inspired by that dress, but it's in a different time. It's like a parallel universe,” Elizabeth shared. “No way would it ever replace that one, because that one was so perfect for the time and for Diana. And that was her dress.”