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Princess Diana's wedding dress designer approves of The Crown's version of her gown: ‘It captures the spirit’

Original gown is estimated to have cost £90,000 

Sarah Young
Thursday 08 October 2020 08:13 BST
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One of the designers responsible for creating Princess Diana’s wedding dress has praised its recreation in The Crown.

The fourth series of the Netflix show, which arrives on screens in November, will see audiences introduced to the Princess of Wales, who is played by English actor Emma Corrin.

One of the most anticipated episodes featuring Diana is of her royal wedding to Prince Charles and earlier this week fans were given a first glimpse at the show’s version of the iconic ivory gown.

Among those to praise The Crown’s costume designer Amy Roberts for the replica was one of the original gown’s designers, Elizabeth Emanuel, who worked alongside her former husband, David, in preparation for the 1981 wedding.

“The dress looks lovely,” Emanuel told People magazine. “They have done a great job in capturing the spirit of the wedding gown.“

She continued: “Emma Corrin looks wonderful in it. I’m a big fan of The Crown, it’s an amazing series and I’m looking forward to seeing it when it comes out.”

Roberts consulted with the original designers when she was making the gown and Netflix recently revealed that it took 600 hours to make.

“Four months and five fittings later, with three people spending a collective 600 hours working, they had a dress. It's made of 95 metres of fabric and 100 metres of lace, with a train that is approximately 30 metres long,” Netflix shared on Twitter.

“Without access to the original patterns, Amy collaborated with David Emmanuel. He was enormously helpful, talking the design team through the detail of many of the original drawings to help them create this gown for Emma Corrin.”

The Nottingham-based team who made the lace on the Emanuel's original dress also made the lace for the gown used in The Crown.

Corrin recently revealed that it took 10 people to help her put on the dress while filming the upcoming season of the show, which is set to premiere on 15 November.

The Princess of Wales seated in her bridal gown at Buckingham Palace after her marriage to Prince Charles at St. Paul's Cathedral ((PA/PA Archive/PA Images))

The original gown is estimated to have cost £90,000 and was made using ivory silk taffeta, with the neckline and leg of mutton sleeves designed with lace flounces.

It also featured 10,000 pearls, mother of pearl sequins and embroidery. The dress was paired with the Spencer tiara and a 153 yard veil – with hidden details including an 18 carat gold horseshoe charm for good luck.

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