No matter what dress she chooses, Kate Middleton’s wedding gown will be great, providing it “reflects our times”, according to a historian.
Joanna Marschner, senior curator at Historic Royal Palaces, spoke as they prepare to show six royal wedding dresses from the 19th and 20th centuries to the world.
The gowns are usually kept in the conservation stores at Kensington Palace and rarely viewed by the public.
But Dr Marschner, who co-authored the book The Royal Wedding Dresses, said the huge interest in the forthcoming wedding had given them the opportunity to share the historic collection.
The gowns cannot be put on public display but are being beamed worldwide via the internet and social media so people across the globe can experience them.
The collection includes the cloth-of-silver dress worn by Princess Charlotte when she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg in 1816; the dress Alexandra of Denmark wore when she married Albert Edward, Prince of Wales in 1863; and Princess (Victoria) Mary of Teck’s white satin dress, worn when she married Prince George, Duke of York – later King George V – in 1893.
Also in the collection is Queen Victoria’s silk satin dress from her wedding to Albert Saxe-Coburg in 1840.
And from the 20th century, there is Princess Margaret’s simple white gown from her wedding to Lord Snowdon in 1960; and Princess Alexandra of Kent’s dress worn when she married Hon. Angus Bruce Ogilvy in 1963.
And as speculation mounts over which dress Miss Middleton will choose for the big day next week, Dr Marschner said the collection proved wedding dresses never disappoint if they are true to the time they are worn in.
“Catherine’s dress should reflect our times,” she said.
Dr Marschner said the collection showed how royal wedding gown styles evolved, reflecting the bride’s message and the time they lived in.
She said those who designed the early dresses often remained “shadowy” figures, with little known about them, but changes in dress styles and designers showed how royal weddings had become public occasions, rather than private affairs.
She said many of the dresses showcased English manufacture – including Queen Victoria and Princess Alexandra of Denmark’s gowns, which featured Honiton lace.
Some dresses were intended as a symbol of wealth, such as Princess Charlotte’s for her wedding to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, comprising a petticoat of white and silver worn under a net dress embroidered with silver lame.
Queen Victoria’s dress showed a break with tradition, including her decision not to wear her “robes”, Dr Marschner said, but again was kept British – made of silk satin from Spitalfield and Honiton lace. The current Queen, who Dr Marschner said still has her own dress, was faced with austere times in a post-war wedding, but her Norman Hartnell Primavera gown became a creation from “one of those stellar couturiers”.
Her younger sister Princess Margaret – described by Dr Marschner as “arguably one of the first sort of celebrity members of the Royal Family” – used the same designer in her 1960 dress while Princess Alexandra of Kent’s dress by John Cavanagh used white tulle embroidered with gold paillettes to shimmer as she moved, as well an impressive a five-metre train.