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Elizabeth Emanuel tells PEOPLE her project big project is the “sequel” Princess Diana’s bridal style

Princess Diana’s wedding dress designer is going to “climb back into the time machine” and make a modern version of the iconic bridal gown the late Princess of Wales wore to marry the future King Charles in 1981.

“I’m going to try and capture the spirit of the original — but through my eyes now,” Elizabeth Emanuel tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “I want to preserve all the sparkles and pearls but with a completely different vision.”

The designer adds of the “sequel” to the original gown, “It’s a really exciting thing because I often get asked, ‘Would you do the same dress again?’ Well, I wouldn’t change a thing on the dress in 1981, but if I was looking at it through my eyes now, there’s so many possibilities.”

Elizabeth and her former husband David famously made the ivory wedding dress that Lady Diana Spencer wore for her royal wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981, which instantly defined a decade of style. All eyes were on the royal bride, whose gown featured a ruffled collar, puffed sleeves, a voluminous skirt and a show-stopping 25-foot train.

Elizabeth Emanuel (right) helps straighten out Princess Diana’s wedding dress on July 29, 1981.Ted Blackbrow/Daily Mail/Shutterstock

Princess Diana’s Wedding Dress Secrets: Fake Clues, Hiccups and Hidden Touches by the Designers

Unbeknownst to the 20-year-old bride and the millions watching on television, the Emanuels crafted a second dress as a precautionary measure.

“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 says. “So I thought, ‘I’m gonna make a backup dress.’ “

Inspired by a pink gown that she and David made for Diana to wear at a private ball a few days before her royal wedding, Elizabeth got to work. The extra dress differed from Diana’s iconic bridal gown, notably lacking a long train. The silk was white, “not the deep ivory that the royal wedding dress was made of” and while the actual wedding dress had puffed sleeves, Elizabeth says the backup had “slim ones, more fitted to her arms” with frilly cuffs.

Elizabeth Emanuel at her London studio with the recreated spare Princess Diana wedding dress on March 7, 2024.Lauren Fleishman; Hair & Makeup: Graziella Cawthorne Vella

As for the fabric, Elizabeth hand-embroidered the intricate designs on the dress Diana wore, while the material for the backup was used ready-made.

The spare dress was never finished, and the designer isn’t sure what became of it. Today, the 70-year-old London-based creative has reproduced it for a special reason: to exhibit 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. “You cannot put a price tag on history,” she adds of the acquisition for an undisclosed sum.

Elizabeth Emanuel and Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in August 1986.Tim Graham/Getty Images

Princess Diana’s Most Glamorous Looks of All Time

As nerves mounted in the run-up to her wedding day, Diana found the design studio to be an “oasis of peace,” Elizabeth says.

“She would go upstairs and chat with all the seamstresses. She loved browsing through the rails because this was a new world for her,” the designer says.

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Princess Diana and Prince Charles after their wedding on July 29, 1981.Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty

Princess Diana’s relationship with Elizabeth and David began shortly after they provided a blouse for a photo shoot marking the royal’s engagement to Prince Charles in February 1981. A month later, Diana was a vision in a black strapless gown created by the couple, prompting her to set the husband and wife design team on the path to stardom.

“She said, ‘Would you do me the honor of making my wedding dress?’ ” recalls Elizabeth, who was in a fitting with another bride when Diana rang. “It was hard to control myself.”

In a new book, Richard Dalton talks about styling the former Princess of Wales’ hair for a decade — and giving both of her sons their first haircuts

Prince Harry and his mother, Princess Diana.

Princess Diana’s longtime hairstylist Richard Dalton was in charge of styling the most famous woman in the world’s hair for a decade, but she wasn’t his only royal client.

For the then-Wales family — Princess Diana, the future King Charles, and their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry — hairstyling was a true family affair with Richard Dalton.

He tells PEOPLE he is responsible for both William and Harry’s first haircuts and held that responsibility “up until they were 10 and 7.”

It’s an anecdote Dalton details in the new book It’s All About the Hair — My Decade with Diana, which he collaborated on with his friend Renae Plant, curator of The Princess Diana Museum.

“The first time I cut Harry’s hair, the windows were open, and I was holding his lock of reddish hair, thinking, ‘Oh, if this blows away, I’m in trouble. I’ll be put in the Tower of London,’” he tells PEOPLE exclusively. It didn’t, and Diana placed it in her baby books, Dalton writes in the book.

Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry at the piano in Kensington Palace.Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty

Princess Diana’s Personal Hairdresser Reveals the Reason Prince William Liked Childhood Haircuts

Of the brothers, “They were so sweet, the boys,” Dalton says in the book. “I would cut their hair in their nursery. Every time they saw me coming into the nursery, William would get terribly excited. He’d run and get the little white chair and would put it on top of the square coffee table. They would sit in the chair and watch television while I cut their hair.”

Dalton adds, “They always knew they got ‘extra’ TV when we had haircuts, so they thought it was great.”

Prince William, Princess Diana and Prince Harry at the Heads of State VE Remembrance Service in Hyde Park on May 7, 1995.Anwar Hussein/Getty

After Princess Diana recommended it, “I cut Prince Charles’ hair on occasion,” Dalton tells PEOPLE. In the book, Dalton remembers Diana telling him, “Please just do it and do something with it,” adding that she “wanted me to fix it and make it a little more modern.”

Dalton would see Prince Charles when he popped into his then-wife’s dressing room from time to time. “I think Charles was reserved, as he was brought up with an understanding of how to behave in front of staff,” Dalton writes. “He was very nice, but you would not see him express himself openly or passionately.”

Not so for the former Princess of Wales. “Diana was a woman in love,” Dalton writes

In his book, Dalton shares that the most significant transformation he observed in Diana was when she became a mother—a journey he was privileged to witness from the beginning, having worked with her even before her July 29, 1981, wedding to the then Prince of Wales. Dalton recalls how Diana truly blossomed with the births of William in 1982 and Harry in 1984.

Princess Diana, Prince Harry, Prince Charles and Prince William leaving Italy on the royal yacht Brittania in April 1985.Diana Archive/Getty

“She absolutely loved and adored her boys, and she also craved affection,” Dalton shares in the book. “Her boys gave her that. The princess was at her very best as a mother.”

Dalton writes of the “great memories” of the boys always wanting to be around their mother — “and under my feet when I was trying to do her hair,” he shares.

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‘It’s All About The Hair – My Decade with HRH Diana Princess of Wales’.The Princess and the Platypus Foundation

Preserving Diana’s legacy is why Plant created The Princess Diana Museum and why she encouraged Dalton to share his memories.

“Diana will one day soon become the king’s mother when William becomes king, and I hope that the work I have done will inspire future generations to understand who Diana really was,” Plant tells PEOPLE.

She adds, “It’s just so sad that we never got to see her become a grandmother, and I always imagine what she would be doing today if she were alive.”

Princess Diana’s Hairdresser Reveals Why She Once Wore a Necklace as a Headband — with ‘Knicker Elastic!’

Princess Diana in Hong Kong, Nov. 8, 1989.Kent Gavin/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty

For a limited time, Plant is offering a special bonus: a free one-week membership to the Princess Diana Museum for anyone who purchases the book between Aug, 31 and Sept. 7.

“I decided to create the Princess Diana Museum to honor her incredible life and legacy,” Plant says. “I never imagined it would grow this big — housing the largest private collection in the world with over 2,700 items.”

Yes, Wonder Woman’s birth name is Princess Diana!

Photo: Warner Bros.; TIM ROOKE/Rex Features

Sure, you think you know Wonder Woman. And we know you know Princess Diana. But, dear royals fans, did you know Wonder Woman is Princess Diana?

Yes, the Amazonian superhero is not only royal, but she shares a name and title with one of our all-time favorite royals. So let’s leave the fist fights to the fellas and focus on the match-up we’d really like to see: Princess Diana vs. Princess Diana.

1. They share royal roots.
Both Dianas share a namesake with the Roman goddess of the hunt – and childhood homes set in gorgeous locales. In her tropical homeland of Themyscira, Wonder Woman is known by her birth name, Princess Diana. When she travels beyond her Amazonian nation – which, incidentally, is populated and governed entirely by women with a distinct disdain for men – she is known by her alias, Diana Prince. (See what she did there?) Her mother is Hippolyta, the Amazonian queen from Greek mythology.

Princess Diana – whose childhood was rooted in bucolic Sandringham – acquired her title when she married Prince Charles. Her mother, Frances Shand Kydd, had royal roots that traced back to Ireland in the 16th century.

Title by marriage vs. title by birth? Advantage (slight): Princess Diana

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2. They both rock tiaras.
In addition to her bracelets and golden lasso, Wonder Woman wears a tiara – which she occasionally hurls at bad guys as a sort of weaponized royal accessory. Princess Diana wore many tiaras throughout her reign but never threw one. (We’re certain she was tempted.) Still, Wonder Woman has but one tiara, while Diana had many – and hers were far sparklier. With real diamonds. Advantage: Princess Diana

3. They weathered complicated love lives.

Wonder Woman’s first true love is Steve Trevor, a U.S. Army intelligence officer whose plane crashed on Themyscira. (She nursed him back to health.) In Batman v Superman, Trevor is briefly glimpsed in an old photo (he’s played by Chris Pine) alongside Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). She later hints that something terrible occurred after the WWI-era photo was taken, leading her to quit the superhero biz for 100 years. Other comic book iterations have seen Wonder Woman romance Aquaman, Batman and yes, Superman. (There’s a love triangle with seismic implications.)

Princess Diana’s own love triangle was grounded in the flaws of mortals but would become iconic in its own right. Advantage: Wonder Woman

In summary, both Princess Dianas are obviously queens. But if lassoed to choose a favorite, the real-life royal wins – though we’d prefer to see her team up with Wonder Woman for the ultimate royals-comic mash-up. Together, they could rule the world.

Ken Wharfe also shares how Kristen Stewart’s performance as Princess Diana rates against his experience with the Princess of Wales

Kristen Stewart in “Spencer”; Princess Diana. Photo: Neon; Getty

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Kristen Stewart in “Spencer”; Princess Diana. Neon; Getty

Ken Wharfe, who was Princess Diana’s bodyguard in the late 1980s and early 1990s, joined the royal family for the Christmas holiday celebrations at Sandringham that provide the backdrop for Pablo Larraín’s Spencer.

“It was purgatory for her,” Wharfe tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.

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Kristen Stewart in Spencer; Princess Diana. Neon; Julian Parker/Getty

According to Wharfe, the Princess of Wales “confined herself to spending time in the kitchen with the chef or with people like me, in the hope that time would while away, and she could get back to London.”

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Kristen Stewart in Spencer; Princess Diana. Neon; Anwar Hussein/Getty

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward, a journalist with whom Princess Diana was friendly, confirms that Diana hid her struggles during royal family gatherings.

“She would have put on a good front for the Queen and the family,” said Seward. “She was a properly brought-up girl and would have considered it rude to make a scene or a spectacle of herself.”

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Kristen Stewart in Spencer; Princess Diana. Neon; Nils Jorgensen/Shutterstock

Spencer does exercise some dramatic license, though, including one surprising scene featuring a heart-to-heart between Princess Diana and her dresser, played in the film by Sally Hawkins.

“From my experience, Diana never once confided in her dressers,” recalled Wharfe.

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Kristen Stewart in Spencer; Princess Diana. Neon; Getty

Wharfe praised Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of the late royal: “Out of all the people who have played Diana over the past 10 years, she’s the closest to her,” he said. “She managed to perfect her mannerisms.”

The former Prince of Wales wrote of “bewilderment and confusion that accompanies the removal of someone so young from the world” in the letter, dated Dec. 8, 1997

Prince Charles and Princess Diana in Balmoral. Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty

A letter King Charles wrote in the immediate aftermath of Princess Diana’s Aug. 31, 1997, death is shedding new light on his grief.

The King, who was then Prince Charles, wrote about “unbearable emptiness” just under four months after the late Princess of Wales died in a car accident in Paris. The letter, sent to Peter Houghton, recently sold at auction for $2,000, according to the Daily Mail.

It is clear in the letter that Houghton is also grieving, as the former Prince of Wales writes that his heart “bleeds” for him following the death of “dear Liz” (who the royal referred to as a “life-enhancer”) after an illness. Charles added that he could imagine the “agony” Houghton was going through and “longed to wave a magic wand to transform the situation.”

King Charles’ Dec. 8, 1997 letter.Courtesy: RR Auction

The letter then addresses his “bewilderment and confusion that accompanies the removal of someone so young from the world” — a familiar feeling, as his ex-wife, Princess Diana, was just 36 at the time of her death.

The three-page handwritten letter was written on Highgrove House letterhead and dated Dec. 8, 1997, just over three months after Princess Diana died, leaving behind sons Prince William and Prince Harry, then just 15 and 12, respectively. It is signed “Charles” and has its original envelope included in the sale, which had the future monarch’s instructions for the letter to be delivered “by hand.” Per the Daily Express, the seller of the letter is unknown.

King Charles’ Dec. 8, 1997 letter.Courtesy: RR Auction

The letter’s sale was handled by RR Auction out of Boston, and a spokesperson for the company said that “this lengthy handwritten letter to ‘Peter’ expresses his sympathy upon the death of a loved one. Charles was likely particularly emotional at the time he wrote the letter, as Princess Diana had tragically passed away just a few months before in August 1997.”

The letter also elaborates on the royal’s Christian faith and his beliefs on what happens when someone dies, quoting a Bible passage that reads, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face-to-face.” He added, “Personally, I believe that there is another dimension beyond this physical one and that we will be amazed to discover it for ourselves when we are eventually — or at a moment — called upon to make that certain journey for ourselves.”

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Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales, pose outside Chateau de Chambord during their official visit to France on November 9, 1988 in Chambord, France. Georges De Keerle/Getty

Prince Harry, Princess Diana’s younger son, arrived in Colombia with his wife, Meghan Markle, on Aug. 15. During a breakfast meeting that morning with the South American country’s vice president Francia Márquez and her husband, Rafael Yerney Pinillo, Márquez shared her admiration for Princess Diana with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Earlier in the day at a press conference ahead of the couple’s arrival, Márquez was asked about a trip Princess Diana planned to make to Colombia shortly before her death, per the Daily Mirror.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Touch Down in Colombia and Break Traditional Cheese Bread with Vice President

Prince Harry, Princess Diana. Chris Jackson/Getty; Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty

“I think that Prince Harry being here today after that dream of his mum’s of visiting this country is an opportunity to show the best of our nation, to show who Colombians are,” she said. “We are people who, in the midst of adversities, do everything possible to give the best of ourselves.”

Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan, 43, will visit the cities of Bogotá, Cartagena and Cali during their visit to Colombia.

Princess Diana celebrated her 36th birthday living up to her People’s Princess nickname

Princess Diana on July 1, 1997, her final birthday.

Just two months before a tragic car accident took Princess Diana’s life, she spent her final birthday at a gala — but not without taking some time to meet her fans.

The late royal celebrated her 36th birthday on July 1, 1997, in style, attending a gala held in honor of the Tate Gallery’s Centenary in London. Princess Diana stunned in a beaded black gown that she received as a birthday gift from her friend, designer Jacques Azagury, accessorizing with a sparkling choker necklace featuring green stones and matching drop earrings.

Diana also made it clear why she was called “The People’s Princess,” taking time to greet well-wishers who had gathered outside. They showered her with birthday presents, including cards, flowers and a small pink balloon featuring a cartoon bear.

 12 Ways Princess Diana Broke with Tradition and Paved a New Path for the Royal Family

Princess Diana on July 1, 1997, her final birthday. Justin GoffUK Press via Getty Images

“Diana had a genius for people,” her younger brother, Charles, 9th Earl Spencer, previously told PEOPLE. “She could make any person, whether they were the grandest or the most humble feel totally at ease in her company.”

Princess Diana’s final summer was marked by a trip to the U.S., where she gave a speech at a Red Cross-hosted gala for victims of land mines and met Hillary Clinton, and a visit to Bosnia to work with the Land Mine Campaign. She also vacationed in St. Tropez with her boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed and her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Princess Diana on July 1, 1997, her final birthday.

After spending nine days with Al Fayed vacationing in the French and Italian Rivera, the couple arrived in Paris on August 30. Just a few hours later, both Diana and Dodi were killed in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel, driving from the Hotel Ritz Paris to another apartment in the city.

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Princess Diana on July 1, 1997, her final birthday.

Diana’s legacy has lived on in her sons, from their charity work to their efforts to keep her memory alive.

“I certainly hope and believe everything I do makes her proud,” Prince Harry told PEOPLE exclusively in April 2022. “In the 12 short years I was lucky enough to have with her, I saw and felt the energy and lift she got from helping others, no matter their background, ailment or status. Her life and theirs was better for it, however short theirs or hers was.”

Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed. Getty(2)

He added, “I honor my mother in everything I do. I am my mother’s son.”

More than 3,000 guests attended the couple’s 1981 nuptials, while a record-breaking 750 million people tuned in to watch the royals walk down the aisle on TV

Photo: Anwar Hussein/WireImage

Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding on July 29, 1981, was hailed as the “wedding of the century,” and for good reason. The lavish affair, which took place at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, cost roughly $48 million (around $156 million today when adjusted for inflation). The nuptials were watched by a record-breaking 750 million people in 74 countries around the world. It also marked the first time that a British citizen married an heir to the throne in 300 years.

Prince Charles announced his engagement to Diana just five months prior to the wedding on Feb. 24, 1981. While Charles told the BBC that he was “delighted and frankly amazed” that Diana was “prepared” to take him on, he upset his future wife when he was asked by the interviewer if they were in love. Diana replied, “Of course,” while Charles said, “Whatever in love means” — a comment she reportedly found “traumatizing.”

Still, their extravagant wedding was seemingly a dream come true for the bride. “I remember being so in love with my husband that I couldn’t take my eyes off him,” she later told Andrew Morton for his 1992 book, Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words. “I just absolutely thought I was the luckiest girl in the world. He was going to look after me.”

She later said in an excerpt from Lady Colin Campbell’s The Real Diana: “It was heaven, amazing, wonderful, though I was so nervous when I was walking up the aisle that I swore my knees would knock and make a noise.”

The groom was also full of optimism, reportedly writing in a letter to a friend, “There were several times when I was perilously close to crying from the sheer joy of it all.”

Diana, who met Charles only 13 times before marrying him, according to a series of private tapes that were recorded in 1992 with her voice coach, Peter Settelen, would later reminisce on her big day a bit differently, reportedly calling it the “worst day of her life.” “If I could write my own script I would have my husband go away with [Camilla Parker Bowles] and never come back,” she reportedly said in the tapes, which were aired in a 2017 documentary titled Diana: In Her Own Words.

Though the pair would ultimately divorce in 1996, just one year ahead of Diana’s untimely death by a car crash, their wedding day lives on in infamy forever. Below, relive every over-the-top moment from the jaw-dropping affair, from the extreme lengths Diana’s wedding dress designers went to keep her gown a secret to the flubs she and Charles made at the altar.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding Registry

Tim Graham Photo Library

Though the New York Times reported that the couple received roughly 3,000 presents between the time of their engagement and their big day, they also had a secret registry, according to Vanity Fair. Approval was needed by Buckingham Palace to view the list at General Trading Company, which reportedly included everything from wine coolers and bed trays to gardening furniture.

In addition to their chosen items, they received several high-profile gifts from important wedding guests, like the engraved Steuben glass bowl they were gifted by the Reagans, the Art Deco clock they got from Cartier and the diamond-and-sapphire parure of a watch, bracelet, pendant, ring and earrings Diana was given by the Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding Rehearsal

Tim Graham Photo Library

After an hour-long rehearsal of the nuptials at the wedding venue of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, the couple danced at a gala ball hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace two nights before their wedding, along with the 1,400 family members and guests in attendance — including Nancy Reagan. A pared-down dinner for 90 followed, after which the group parted ways.

The country’s largest fireworks display in more than two centuries was also held on the eve of the wedding, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to Hyde Park, including Prince Charles, who was on hand to light the first bonfire. The show was accompanied by music from 250 musicians, who played George Handel’s “The Royal Fireworks” song. The New York Times reported that the show was modeled after one held in 1749 that marked the end of the War of the Austrian Succession.

Terry Fincher/Getty

Diana did not join in the celebrations, spending the night at Clarence House with her sisters and bridal party in order to get up for her 6:30 a.m. wedding day call. According to journalist Penny Junor’s book The Duchess: The Untold Story, her future husband sent her a gift from Buckingham Palace in the form of a signet ring bearing his Prince of Wale feathers, along with a sweet note that read, “I am so proud of you and when you come up, I’ll be there at the altar for you tomorrow. Just look ’em in the eye and knock them dead.”

Astrologer Penny Thornton, however, claimed in an ITV documentary that the royal also had an unpleasant confession for his bride-to-be. “One of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding Charles told her that he didn’t love her,” Thornton said. “I think Charles didn’t want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her and it was devastating for Diana.”

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding Venue

Tim Graham Photo Library

The pair’s venue choice of St. Paul’s Cathedral marked the first royal affair to be held there since 1501. In addition to its enormous seating (St. Paul’s holds 3,500 wedding guests to Westminster Abbey’s 2,000), Prince Charles gave some insight into the venue choice while speaking to British television networks. According to the royal, the cathedral was chosen in part for its “spectacular” acoustics, which he felt would provide guests with a “stirring, dramatic and noisy” sound. ”If you have something rather quiet, you start hearing your ankles cricking, you know what I mean?” he reportedly asked.

Beyond that, he is said to have reasoned that it had room for an orchestra, a world-famous choir and was “more beautiful” than Westminster Abbey, according to the 1998 book The Real Diana by Lady Colin Campbell.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding Guest List

Bryn Colton/Getty

Among the 3,500 who attended the pair’s nuptials were many world leaders, including Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, Nancy Reagan, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the prince’s parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip and Princess Anne and Mark Philips, to name a few.

Also in attendance was Prince Charles’s current wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, though she was not invited to the couple’s more intimate wedding breakfast.

Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty

Absent from the service were several family members that were cut from a list of people her father, John Spencer, requested seats for. According to published journals of the late journalist Kenneth Rose, the Princess of Wales “crossed out all the family who had not bothered to come to the weddings of her sisters!” He added, “One day she will be very formidable.”

Princess Diana’s Wedding Dress

Princess Diana and Prince Charles. Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive

Princess Diana’s gown, which was crafted in the space of three months, was made with ivory silk taffeta that was dyed and woven ivory (instead of pure white) and decorated with ornate, hand-embroidery, with no less than 10,000 micro pearls. Though its massive 25-foot-long train was undoubtedly its defining feature, it also featured puffy sleeves, a ruffled necklace and a gorgeous lace trim, which came from a bag of scraps that was acquired by designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel at auction. As it turns out, the scraps also turned out to have a royal history, as an expert recognized the antique lace from the bodice of dress from the reign of Queen Mary — Prince Charles’s great-grandmother.

“It was all about drama and making Diana a fairytale princess,” designer Elizabeth Emanuel explained to British Vogue. “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.”

It was also completely the designers’ creation. “There was no red tape, there were no limitations” from the palace,” David told E! News. “We had completely, utterly free reign, and it was down to [Diana], and her alone, that she had the confidence to select Emanuel and to believe in it.”

Beyond its obvious charms, the dress — Diana’s “something new” — featured several special details that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye, including a blue bow inside the bodice (her “something blue”) and a tiny gold horseshoe that was sewn in for good luck. “We only told her on the wedding day,” David told Hello! Magazine of the charm. “She didn’t know about the horseshoe for good luck, [but] she was very touched. She was traditional.”

Princess Diana and Prince Charles. Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty

Designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel went to great lengths to keep Diana’s dress a secret, deliberately placing bits of unused fabric in the trash for the press to find, according to “Royal Style in the Making” exhibit curator Matthew Storey.

David also confirmed the design for an erroneous sketch of the gown to a Woman’s Wear Daily reporter, who approached him on the morning of the couple’s wedding. “I don’t think they forgave me for one year,” he told E! News of the incident.

As for the real sketch, the designer told Hello! magazine, “As soon as [Diana’s mother] Mrs. Shand Kydd saw it and she loved it, we ripped up the design as we didn’t want people to see it.”

With so much interest in the bride’s wedding gown, designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel prepared a second dress in the event that the original was leaked ahead of schedule.

“At the time we wanted to make absolutely sure that the dress was a surprise,” Elizabeth told PEOPLE in 2011. “Had the secret of the real dress got out it’s possible that Diana would actually have worn this one.”

Princess Diana’s Wedding Tiara

Princess Diana on her wedding day. Lichfield/Getty

For her “something borrowed,” Princess Diana had her pick of options, as Queen Elizabeth II offered to lend her the Queen Mary Lover’s Knot tiara that has since been worn by Kate Middleton. She ultimately chose her family’s own Spencer tiara, which was worn by her sisters, Lady Sarah and Lady Jane, for their weddings, as well as her former sister-in-law, Victoria Lockwood, who wore it for her nuptials to Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer.

The piece itself also has its roots in history, as it’s comprised of several pieces of jewelry, including end pieces from a bauble of Viscountess Frances Manby. The central part, meanwhile, comes from a wedding present that was given to Diana’s grandma, Lady Cynthia Hamilton, on her wedding day to Albert Spencer.

Unfortunately for Diana, it also caused her a bit of pain. As her brother revealed to ET in 2010, “I just remember she had a cracking headache too because she wasn’t used to wearing a tiara all morning.”

Charles Spencer is the current owner of the tiara and was most recently exhibited by Sotheby’s for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, along with roughly 40 other royal and aristocratic tiaras.

Princess Diana’s Wedding Flowers

Princess Diana and Prince Charles on their wedding day. Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

Like her dress designers, Princess Diana’s florist was prepared in the event of a disaster, making not one, but two bouquets of gardenias, tephanotis, odontolglossum orchid, lily of the valley, Earl Mountbatten roses, freesia, veronica, ivy, myrtle and trasdescantia.

Florist David Longman told Express that after Queen Elizabeth lost the flowers during her own wedding, she started the tradition of having two identical bouquets made to prevent a similar mishap.

“We made two bouquets,” head florist David Longman revealed to Express. “The first one had to be delivered at 8 o’clock to Buckingham Palace,” he said. “We had a police escort motorcyclist who took us all through the city to the Palace. Then we came back, and by that time they had finished the second bouquet and back we went again.”

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding Party

RR Auction/Splash News Online

The royal couple’s wedding party was made up of two pageboys (Lord Nicholas Windsor and Edward van Cutsem) and five bridesmaids, including Diana’s niece, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (now Chatto), Diana’s favorite former student, Clementine Hambro, Charles’s goddaughter, India Hicks, Catherine Cameron and Sarah-Jane Gaselee. “Each bridesmaid had been chosen for personal reasons of the bride and groom,” Hicks would later explain to Harper’s Bazaar.

According to Penny Junor’s book The Duchess: Camila Parker Bowles and the Love Affair That Rocked the Crown, Parker Bowles’s son, Tom Parker Bowles, who is Charles’s godson, was vetoed from the wedding party by Diana. “She agreed to several of his other godchildren, but there was a big scene about Tom Parker Bowles and Charles backed down,” the book stated.

The bridal attendants dressed in outfits similar to Diana, with taffeta satin, lace trim and yellow sashes. Hambro, then 5, and Cameron, 6, were the youngest of the group, and also wore flower crowns to match their bouquets.

At one point, Hambro, the great-grandaughter of Winston Churchill, had a misstep, falling and bursting into tears. She later recalled to TODAY that Diana asked her if she “bumped her bottom,” to which she replied, “No, I bumped my head.”

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding Ceremony

Anwar Hussein/Getty

Diana walked down the aisle on the arm of her father, Earl Edward John Spencer, despite the unsteadiness he faced from a stroke he had suffered three years prior.

While it was Charles who was keen on having music be a big part of his nuptials (“I’ve always longed to have a musical wedding,” he said in a TV interview per the Washington Post), both the bride and groom selected the songs for their ceremony. From him, Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” and the hymn “Christ Has Made the Sure Foundation,” which the prince said that he chose because of its “most marvelous melody.” As for Diana, she chose “I Vow to Thee My Country,” which she said was always a favorite of hers “since school days.”

The Princess of Wales broke from tradition when she decided to leave the word “obey” out of her vows to Prince Charles from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, which dates back to 1662. “Lady Diana has chosen to follow the new ritual of the Church of England, and she will promise in the ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral only to ‘love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health,’ the New York Times reported ahead of the pair’s nuptials.

Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty

According to the paper, the decision was one the couple made together after “very serious” discussions with Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie.

Despite their careful planning, the royal couple’s vow recital didn’t exactly go swimmingly. Diana accidentally referred to Prince Charles, whose full name is Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, as Prince Philip Charles. Charles, for his part, mistakenly offered Diana “thy goods” instead of the more traditional “my worldly goods.”

The couple honored a then-58-year-long tradition when Prince Charles presented his bride with a Welsh gold ring from the Clogau St. David’s mine — a practice that was started by the Queen Mother in her marriage to King George VI.

Tim Graham Photo Library

After exchanging their vows, the couple was taken back to Buckingham Palace by way of a State Landau carriage that dated back to 1902, which was first used by King Edward VIII during his coronation procession through London. The same carriage would later transport Prince William and Kate Middleton from their wedding venue of Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.

600,000 spectators lined the streets of London to catch a glimpse of them as they passed by.

In addition to the verbal flubs both Charles and Diana made, the groom forgot to kiss his bride following their vow exchange. To make up for it, the royal couple gave the people a show by sharing a very public kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace—a tradition that would later be followed by Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding Reception

David Levenson/Getty

Before the couple jetted off for their honeymoon, they celebrated their monumental moment with a far smaller group of loved ones: Just 120 of the cathedral’s 3,500 guests were invited to the gathering at Buckingham Palace. There, they were treated to an epic feast that included such lavish dishes as brill in lobster sauce and Suprême de Volaille Princesse de Galles, a play on a chicken breast stuffed with lamb mousse, wrapped in brioche and topped off with Madeira sauce and asparagus tips. It was named for Diana herself, who loved chicken.

​​The couple had not one, not two, but a whopping 27 wedding cakes for guests to enjoy at their intimate breakfast ceremony, with the main cake measuring a towering five feet high and bearing the coat of arms of both the bride and groom, along with their initials and a sprinkling of roses, lilies of the valley and orchids. Created by the head baker at the Royal Naval Cookery School, David Avery, it had five pentagon-shaped tiers, with Roman columns separating each one. All in all, it weighed 200 pounds, according to Eater, but if guests didn’t get their fill, there were 26 other cakes from royal wedding watchers to enjoy.

Though the couple’s first dance song is unknown, they reportedly enjoyed music from jazz and pop bandleader Lester Lanin and his orchestra to kick off their wedding reception. Lanin also performed at Princess Grace Kelly’s wedding to Prince Rainier III engagement party.

Following the excitement, Diana shared a sweet moment with her nearest and dearest. “As soon as the cake had been cut, Diana, her sisters, Sarah, the younger bridesmaids and I disappeared upstairs to help her change into her pink going-away outfit, designed by David Sassoon of Bellville Sassoon,” Hicks recalled to Harper’s Bazaar, adding, “The mood was girly and giggly.”

July 29, 1981: Charles and Princess Diana leave for their honeymoon. Serge Lemoine/Hulton Archive/Getty

The British author said that the new royal also gave them a sweet parting gift. “Diana thanked us and gave us each a kiss and a present: a pretty gold-rimmed Halcyon Days china box. Inside were two of the silkworms that had spun the silk for her wedding dress.”

From there, she said goodbye to the rest of her guests and climbed into an open landau carriage, which Prince Charles’s brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, had decorated with a “just married” sign.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding Legacy

Prince Philip at the 1981 royal wedding of Charles and Diana.

Beyond breaking the world record for amassing the largest TV audience for a wedding, Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s nuptials would have a lasting effect on wedding trends going forward. “It inspired girls all around the world to have their very own fairytale day. Soon after, punch-bowl receptions went by the wayside and were replaced by lavish receptions, elaborate dresses and even tiaras,” wedding publicist Leila Lewis told Hello! magazine in 2019.

Added wedding expert Cornelia Powell: “It put a new era of fancy wedding hoopla into motion: elaborate designer gowns; a return of the status wedding celebration; staged over-the-top productions and celebrity weddings as media spectacles.”

Beckham previously shared in his Netflix docuseries that he thought he had 88 tattoos but found out he had a few more

David Beckham shares look at his new tattoo. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/Getty;David Beckham/Instagram

David Beckham is adding some new ink to his ever-growing collection!

The former soccer player, 49, revealed that he recently got a new graphic tattoo from one of his go-to-artists — London-based Certified Letter Boy — and shared shots of the new addition inked on the side of a leg below his knee.

On his Instagram Stories, he showed a snap of the tattoo artist inking an outline of two hands pressed together in a prayer position. He wrote under the picture, “Thanks mate x.”

In a follow-up photo, he showed a closeup of the new tattoo, which featured several details including knuckle and palm lines, nails and shadow detailing. He tagged the tattoo artist and wrote a white heart emoji underneath showing some appreciation for him.

A close-up photo of David Beckham’s prayer hands tattoo on his lower leg.David Beckham/Instagram

Cruz Beckham Pays Tribute to His Famous Mom’s Spice Girls Past with a Posh New Tattoo

Certified Letter Boy posted more photos of Beckham, captioning his Instagram post with, “Praying hands tattoo for the main man. ”Thank you for the trust, DB 🫶🏻

The latest ink inches Beckham one step closer to 100 tattoos, as film director Fisher Stevens had previously shared in the Netflix docuseries Beckham that the British athlete had already been close to that number.

“At the time, I asked, ‘How many tattoos do you have?’ He said, ‘I have 88,’ ” Stevens recalled.

However, over the course of shooting the docuseries, Stevens said they discovered that Beckham had at least “six more” tattoos that he hadn’t included in his initial number. When he asked him about the reason behind “why” he had so many tattoos, the director recalled that Beckham told him, “I just like them.”

“I go, ‘Is there some form of self-torture?’ And he said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ I thought so,” he added.

David and Victoria Beckham in 2018.Joe Maher/BFC/Getty Images

Brooklyn Peltz-Beckham Reveals Huge Tattoo Portrait of Wife Nicola: ‘Very Addictive’

In September 2023, he revealed he got the word “Posh” written in cursive inked in on the lower part of his middle finger, right next to the finger on which he wears a gold wedding band in honor of his wife, Victoria Beckham, who was Posh Spice in the Spice Girls.

He also has another tribute for his wife in the form of a “Victoria” tattoo on his arm, plus the names of the four children he and the fashion designer share: Brooklyn, 25, Romeo, 22, Cruz, 19 and Harper, 13. He even had a tattoo design hand drawn by Harper, which he shared in 2017.

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He previously told The Sun that “any of the tattoos I’ve got are of the family.”

The rest of his tattoos are of inspirational messages including “Dream big, be unrealistic,” “In the face of adversity” and “Let them hate as long as they fear,” among others.

A split image of Charles Spencer Prince Harry and Prince Harry and William

Prince Harry and Prince William’s uncle, Charles Spencer, made an ultra-rare comment about the brothers’ ongoing ‘rift’ on Friday during a special charity initiative for the Diana Award.

The singers from Rock Choir – the world’s largest contemporary choir – recorded a special single at Althorp House that will be released in October in honour of 25 years of the charity.

During the recording, Charles opened up about his nephews’ support of their late mother’s charity, despite reportedly not being on good terms. He told ITV’s Chris Ship: “They both recognise this is something of their mother’s and they both support that, and that’s all that really matters in this situation,” he said of the royal brothers.

He also stated: “It’s really extraordinary for me, as her brother, to think of the impact Diana continues to have, and it’s a source of great family pride for us that, yes, she has been gone for over a quarter of a century now.

Harry and Charles have maintained a close relationship since the Duke’s move to the US in 2020 (Getty)
“And a lot of the Diana Award winners I’ve met over the past quarter of a century are so intrigued by what she did, and they are inspired to give life a go in a really good direction.”

Both Harry and William attended the most recent award ceremony back in March, with Prince Harry dialling in virtually from his home in Montecito after his brother had left.

Following Harry’s departure from the UK in 2020, Charles, the ninth Earl Spencer, has maintained a close relationship with the Duke of Sussex.

At the beginning of the month, Harry stayed at Althorp House during his uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes’ funeral according to PEOPLE.

Harry stayed at Althorp earlier this month (David Goddard)
Harry shared his feelings about his uncle’s estate and childhood home to his late mother in his bombshell memoir Spare, when he recalled visiting the Northamptonshire property with his wife, Meghan Markle.

“Uncle Charles came down to the water’s edge and gave us a little shove. We waved to him and to my two aunts. Bye. See you in a bit.

“Gliding across the pond, I gazed around at Althorp’s rolling fields and ancient trees, the thousands of green acres where my mother grew up, and where, though things weren’t perfect, she’d known some peace.”

On the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death, Harry and Meghan rowed over to Diana’s final resting place on the vast oval lake, which is not open to the public. After leaving Meghan for a moment alone, Harry explained: “When I returned, she was on her knees with her eyes closed and her palms flat against the stone.”

Charles and Lady Jane supported Harry back in May at a special service at St Paul’s Cathedral (Max Mumby/Indigo)
Charles was also one of the only family members to support Harry at a special service marking the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games back in May.

Charles was joined by his sister – Harry’s aunt – Lady Jane Fellowes, as well as Harry’s cousins George McCorquodale, Ned Spencer, and Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp.

Former England football captain David Beckham has said filming the Netflix documentary series of his life “made me feel uncomfortable” as he praised director Fisher Stevens for bringing “something different out in me”.

Speaking at the Royal Television Society (RTS) London Conference, Beckham was asked by presenter Jane Featherstone how he could make an “authentic documentary” about himself with his Studio 99 firm.

Beckham said director Fisher Stevens and other “great people” working with him had made it possible.

The former footballer also spoke about the upcoming documentary on his wife Victoria (Ian West/PA)
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid winger said: “Fisher made me feel uncomfortable from the moment we sat down to talk to the moment I finished.

“And I really needed that because I needed a director to come at it from a different angle.

“You know, everyone kind of knows my career and my life and things like that.

“So I needed someone like him to bring something different out in me.

“I never saw any other clips. I never saw anything until the moment I watched it at the premiere.

“It was quite emotional, but it was just one of those things that I knew that I was going to make, and if I was going to make it, I was going to make it once.

“But it was special, it was a special, special time.”

Beckham also spoke about a new Netflix series his studio was working on, on the life of his wife Victoria, which he will be the producer on.

The 49-year-old said: “I’m really excited about this one with Victoria, because she is an amazing woman.

“She is a strong, driven, passionate person that has gone from being a Spice Girl, as you you all know, and to be respected in this industry is very tough.

“It’s very tough, and she’s worked hard for the last 17, 18 years on her business, and all of a sudden she’s having the success that she really deserves, and no one really sees what she does.

“No one really sees the amount of work that she puts in, she’s over everything from where people sit at the show to what they wear, to everything that goes into her business.

“She’s over every single piece, and I want people to see that.

“It was hard to convince her to to do this, but I think she’d been such a big part of the process with Netflix, and she was like, I love these people, and I love the way they work, and if we can work in this way, and we can do this, so it’s an exciting time.

“I think she’s going to do something that’s very special, and people are going to see her personality and just her work ethic.”

Victoria rose to fame as part of the Spice Girls, and was known as Posh Spice, and later embarked on a solo music career in the 2000s before launching her own fashion label.

The couple have been married since 1999, and the Netflix documentary Beckham enjoyed a viral moment when David was filmed interrupting Victoria talking about her childhood to instruct her to “be honest” and admit that her father drove a Rolls-Royce.

Former footballer David, who owns MLS franchise Inter Miami, also spoke about setting up Studio 99, which he said was something he had “always had in mind” while playing, and added that making documentaries was something he had “always enjoyed” after his professional football retirement.

He said: “When I retired, which is 11 years ago, from playing I made two documentaries and it was Into The Unknown, For The Love Of The Game.

“And I love the process, so setting up the studio was something I always had in mind.”

Beckham’s Studio 99 has produced documentaries including 99, about Manchester United’s treble-winning season, Beckham, a documentary about himself, and Ronnie O’Sullivan The Edge Of Everything.