Fashion

[Greeneyedlady21]

People Magazine

As Lady Diana Spencer climbed the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981, to marry Prince Charles, her majestic wedding dress with its 25-foot train brought a royal fairy tale to life. But unbeknownst to the 20-year-old bride and the millions watching on television, the designers behind the now-iconic gown had crafted a second, mystery dress as a precautionary measure for any unforeseen circumstances.

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 Emanuel, who famously created Princess Diana’s wedding gown with former husband David, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. "So I thought, 'I'm gonna make a backup dress.' "

Drawing inspiration from a pink gown that the Emanuels made for Diana to wear at a private ball a few days before her wedding, Elizabeth quietly got to work.

The spare dress differed greatly from the famous gown that Princess Diana wore on her big day, notably lacking a long train. The silk was white, "not the deep ivory that the royal wedding dress was made of" and the backup had "slim ones, more fitted to her arms" with frilly cuffs, Elizabeth says. Additionally, the intricate designs on the dress Diana wore were hand-embroidered by Elizabeth, whereas the fabric for the backup was ready-made.

The extra dress was never completed.

"I just thought, 'If anything happens, we’ll finish it off and have it ready,' " says Elizabeth, adding that "it likely ended up on some sample rail. It probably got reused, torn up, thrown out, who knows?"

After searching through old sketches and thumbnail images from an old documentary, the 70-year-old London-based designer recreated the backup royal wedding dress for a unique purpose: to exhibit it at the virtual Princess Diana Museum.

"We never got to see that dress on Diana and thought it would be lovely to envision it," says Renae Plant, the museum’s director and curator, who acquired it for an undisclosed sum. "You cannot put a price tag on history."

The original sketch of the backup dress, on the right in the designer's scrapbook

[Ronettes]

I actually like this dress better than the one Princess Di wore on her wedding day.

Also love that woman's stylish hairdo in the photo, it's very attractive on her!

[Hoovermom]

Antebellum looking to me........prefer the first one.

[AuntMame]

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@Ronettes wrote:

I actually like this dress better than the one Princess Di wore on her wedding day.

Also love that woman's stylish hairdo in the photo, it's very attractive on her!

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I agree. About both the hairdo and the gown! 

I read somewhere that the designer also made a "fake" wedding gown to fool the tabloids, while keeping the real dress tightly under wraps. 

[sunshine45]

this is definitely better than the first one. i dont find the one she wore attractive at all!

[Flatbush]

I love both dresses. I can almost feel the rich, satin? taffeta? fabric in my hand.

I love the elegance and draping of it too.

[meallen616]

I like both!

[skatting44]

  Alot of bad fashion in the early 1980's and Diana's wedding gown was one of them - didn't like the style then as it made her look like " Little Miss Muffett ".

This  second backup dress was a bite better than the one she wore  at her wedding.

[lgfan]

I remember reading that the designers would burn the scraps of Diana's wedding dress at the end of a work day.  They would also put scraps of another material in the trash can to throw people off because they said that their trash was being stolen.  

[shoptilyadropagain]

I'm not a fan of the original or the backup but I do like the backup dress "slightly" more than the one she wore.