Royals

Princess Diana's dress is still a standout

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
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It has been 30 years since it was worn in front of the world, but Princess Diana's wedding dress is still demanding attention.

While Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress was watched by billions around the world on TV last month, Princess Diana's dress continues to be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people since her wedding day in 1981.

Even on April 29, as Diana's son Prince William married Catherine, the exhibition showcasing Diana's dress, complete with its 8m train, was a sell out in Kansas City in the US, the UK's Daily Mail reported.

The dress is currently part of an exhibition celebrating Princess Diana in the US and has been viewed by more than 1 million people.

Art handlers Graeme Murton and Nick Grossmark are currently travelling with the "priceless" piece around the globe and know every inch of the ivory silk taffeta and lace gown.

"It is simply magnificent, and the most famous dress ever. At the wedding it was seen by almost a million people," he said.

The exhibition, which showcases Princess Diana's full wedding dress ensemble, is part of a 150-piece exhibition called Diana: A Celebration.

But the wedding dress is by far the most difficult piece to transport in the collection.

Graeme and Nick are the only two people allowed to touch the dress and do so wearing white gloves. Every time the dress is moved it is covered in acid-free tissue paper and cotton fabric before being transferred on to a rolling cart and stored in a £3000 ($4564) foam-lined box.

Princess Diana's dress actually belongs to Prince William and Prince Harry and permanently lives at Diana's family home, the Althorp Estate and is looked after by her brother Earl Spencer.




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User comments
While I thought Diana's Wedding dress looked beautiful, every body has there own opinion. Princess Diana was a beautiful lady and she was kind and caring. What Diana wore at her wedding was her her own choice and I thought Diana looked amazing. I loved what she wore and I think she was the most wonderful person on this earth.
I always thought I was in the minority when it came to Diana's wedding dress, but it seems not. It looked like a creased up bed quilt. It also looked far too big for her. I don't understand why David and Elizabeth Emmanuel put such a lovely girl into such an ugly dress. I am amazed they ever got commissions to design any more. Nothing about it was pretty, and to call it "magnificent" is an absolute joke. Diana probably cringed in later years when she looked back at photos of it. Good thing she was so utterly beautiful herself.
Dianna's dress was just plain ugly I never liked it when she first wore it and I like it even more now
That dress was awful then, it represents everything that was wrong with the 80's. She looks like a grown woman trying to play little girl dress ups. I love Diana, but that dress is one of the worst 80's fashion nightmares created.

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