Princess Diana Had a Secret Backup Wedding Dress That Not Even She Knew About. Here’s Why
Princess Diana Had a Secret Backup Wedding Dress That Not Even She Knew About. Here’s Why
Emma BanksSat, August 1, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTC
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Princess Diana on her wedding day in 1981; Elizabeth Emanuel with Princess Diana’s secret backup wedding dressCredit: Anwar Hussein/Getty; Lauren Fleishman -
Princess Diana had a secret backup wedding gown for her 1981 nuptials
The late royal did not know that the dress existed
In 2024, it was recreated by designer Elizabeth Emanuel for an exhibit at the virtual Princess Diana Museum
Princess Diana’s wedding dress is one of the most iconic bridal looks of all time — but it’s not the only gown that was made for her special day.
Unbeknownst to the late royal, Diana actually had a second dress waiting in the wings for her just in case of emergencies. Both garments were designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel.
“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 April 2024. “So I thought, ‘I’m gonna make a backup dress.’ ”
Diana, of course, never wore her backup gown, and instead wed the future King Charles in an ivory silk taffeta number with a record-breaking 25-foot train.
The duo became husband and wife on July 29, 1981. Following their nuptials, they welcomed two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, before getting divorced in 1996. Diana died the next year, on Aug. 31, 1997.
Here’s everything to know about Diana’s backup wedding dress, including why its existence was kept secret from the bride herself.
Diana’s backup dress looked different from her actual wedding gown
Princess Diana’s secret backup wedding dressCredit: Lauren Fleishman
Diana’s backup wedding dress was not a carbon copy of her original gown. On the contrary, the two garments differed significantly in terms of both material and silhouette.
While her actual dress featured puffy sleeves rendered in ivory silk taffeta, the backup dress had slimmer sleeves and was made out of white silk. In addition, the intricate designs on the dress Diana wore were hand-embroidered by Elizabeth, whereas the fabric for the backup was ready-made.
Perhaps most notably, the spare dress did not have a long train and was never actually completed.
“I just thought, ‘If anything happens, we’ll finish it off and have it ready,’ ” Elizabeth told PEOPLE.
Even Diana didn’t know that the dress existed
Elizabeth Emanuel and Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in 1986Credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images
Though Diana had personally called to request Elizabeth and David’s services for her wedding gown, even she didn’t know that the duo had decided to design her a second dress.
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“Neither of us wanted to worry her. It was a complete secret,” Elizabeth told PEOPLE in April 2024.
It’s not known what happened to the dress after the wedding
Then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their wedding day in 1981Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty
Diana’s actual wedding gown was inherited by her sons, William and Harry, following her death in 1997. As for her backup gown, however, the dress’ fate is unknown.
“It likely ended up on some sample rail,” Elizabeth said. “It probably got reused, torn up, thrown out, who knows?”
The gown was recreated for an exhibit in 2024
In 2024, Elizabeth unveiled a recreation of Diana’s backup dress for an exhibit at the virtual Princess Diana Museum. The garment’s design was based on old sketches and thumbnail images from a documentary.
“We never got to see that dress on Diana and thought it would be lovely to envision it,” Renae Plant, the museum’s director and curator, told PEOPLE. “You cannot put a price tag on history.”
A different replica dress was auctioned off in 2005
Princess Diana wax sculpture at Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in LondonCredit: Peter Bischoff/Getty
In December 2005, a replica of Diana’s wedding dress was put up for auction by Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in London, per CBS News. The dress had a reserve price of $90,000 and ultimately sold for $175,000, according to the outlet.
Christina Bennett, who was a curator for Madame Tussaud’s in 1981, claimed that Diana wore the garment “during fittings for her wedding dress” and that it was made “in case the original was damaged or stained.”
Elizabeth, however, disputed Bennett’s claim and clarified that the replica was not the same as the backup dress she designed for Diana.
“Diana never tried the dress on, it was never a backup dress,” she said.
The designer went on, “David and I were there. Unless I am having a brain seizure, trying on a second dress was the last thing Diana would have done ... She was so busy, we had to fit all our fittings around her schedule. There was absolutely no way she could have tried on that dress.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
