The Surprising Shared Detail Between Their Wedding Gowns

Over the past 100 years, royal brides have donned an array of different gowns. For her 1947 nuptials to Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth wore a duchess satin gown. The ensemble cost $42,000 at the time—equivalent to approximately $1.6 million today. Three decades later, for the “Wedding of the Century,” husband-and-wife team David and Elizabeth Emanuel constructed a silk-and-taffeta ball gown that included mother-of-pearl sequins and lace-trimmed sleeves for Princess Diana. That ensemble cost $115,000 on the day of Diana’s wedding. Today, the same dress would be priced at approximately $400,000. However, even though the two royals donned vastly different ensembles for their respective ceremonies, the two pieces had one striking detail in common: They both featured 10,000 pearls.

When Elizabeth tied the knot with Philip, she did so in a gown crafted by British designer Norman Hartnell. The dress featured embroidered images of roses, jasmine blossoms, and ears of wheat to represent the rebirth of the country following World War II. The piece also included 10,000 pearls, all of which were imported by Hartnell’s team. Since the UK was still recovering from the war, Elizabeth reportedly used rationing coupons in order to pay for her bridal ensemble.

Three decades later, when Diana said “I do” to Prince Charles, she also wore an ensemble featuring 10,000 of the same gemstone. While it’s unclear whether Diana wanted to pay tribute to Elizabeth by including such a detail on her dress, it’s well-known that those around her wanted her to look like a royal on her big day. “It was all about drama and making Diana a fairy-tale princess,” Elizabeth told British Vogue in 2020. “The gown was typical of early ’80s style—overblown, romantic, flouncy—but we had to get it right because we knew it would go down in history.” Even though the ensemble was a perfect fit for Diana’s new title, in many ways, the elaborate ensemble was a departure from Elizabeth’s wedding-day look. The ball gown included a 25-foot train, thousands of sequins, and dramatic tulle.

Due to the intrigue surrounding Diana’s gown, the designers used a code name to refer to it—and even hired security to ensure that the dress wasn’t leaked to the public prior to the royal wedding. However, they also created a backup gown in case such an event did occur. “I was a bit neurotic, and I thought, ‘What happens if somebody breaks in and steals the dress or something spills or there’s a fire or it gets stolen?,'” Elizabeth told People in 2024. “So I thought, ‘I’m gonna make a backup dress.'” The secret second ensemble featured many of the key details seen in the princess’s primary wedding gown, including the beloved gemstone. “The dress was made in pale ivory silk taffeta with embroidered scalloped details on the hem and sleeves,” Elizabeth said in a 2023 interview with Hello! . “Tiny pearls were sewn on the bodice.”