Princess Diana’s wedding dress designer criticizes The Crown for inaccurate portrayal of her wedding day
Princess Diana's wedding dress designer has some harsh words for The Crown's writers
Princess Diana's wedding dress designer has condemned The Crown for its depiction of the iconic royal event, urging its production team to 'get their facts straight.'
- Princess Diana's wedding dress designer has criticized The Crown for its depiction of her wedding.
- David Emanuel, who created the iconic silk taffeta gown with his ex-wife Elizabeth, called the Netflix show's plotline 'nonsense' and urged its writers to 'get their facts straight.'
- In other royal news, Meghan Markle’s make-up artist reveals Prince Harry’s sweet words about his wife at their fairytale wedding.
Princess Diana's wedding dress designer isn't happy with The Crown—and he's here to set the record straight.
David Emanuel, who created Lady Diana's famous gown with his ex-wife Elizabeth, called out the hit Netflix series for its inaccurate portrayal of her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles.
The British fashion designer took issue with The Crown's narrative of Princess Diana as a reluctant bride, insisting that the young royal's pre-wedding nerves shown in the series were drastically exaggerated.
"Let me tell you, she was not sobbing the night before," David revealed in a recent interview with the Guardian. "I spoke to Prince Charles, I spoke to the Queen, everybody was happy.”
David and Elizabeth were commissioned to design the dress shortly after the announcement of Prince Charles and Diana's engagement in February 1981, giving them just three months to complete the VIP project. Despite the media frenzy and tight deadline, Diana was always a pleasure to work with.
"I’ve dealt with movie stars, actresses, divas, you name it, but this girl did not change from day one until the end," David recalled. "She was sweet as pie.”
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The ivory silk taffeta dress, which is due to go on display at an exhibition at Kensington Palace this summer, is today worth a whopping £151,000 and remains one of the twentieth century's most iconic gowns. Its dramatic style fell out of fashion in the nineties and early noughties in favor of slimmer silhouettes, but is predicted to make a resurgence in the next decade.
"They are all coming in now, they want the fairytale crinoline skirt. It’s coming back and it’s because of Diana,” said David.
Often hailed as the resident expert on Princess Diana's wedding dress, the British fashionista was consulted by The Crown to help decide on the color of its replica wedding dress—a decision he didn't need to think too much about it.
"They had all these swatches. I said ‘That one’ in two seconds flat," he said. "A very pale, soft, iridescent ivory. Not white, not cream, and certainly not clotted cream."
With such attention given to the exact design of the dress, David is baffled by The Crown's deviation from reality. The Say Yes to the Dress host questioned the accuracy of Princess Diana's emotional scenes, having never personally witnessed the young bride's turmoil himself.
"All the years that I looked after her, she never broke down – somewhere along the line if you’re truly unhappy, you might show things. That’s kind of what annoys me,” he said.
“People write all of these stories and … I’m sorry. I blame the TV producers and directors—check your facts. I was there, so don’t give me all of this nonsense—I can’t have it.”
Hailing from the lovely city of Dublin, Emma mainly covers the Royal Family and the entertainment world, as well as the occasional health and wellness feature. Always up for a good conversation, she has a passion for interviewing everyone from A-list celebrities to the local GP - or just about anyone who will chat to her, really.
Emma holds an MA in International Journalism from City, University of London, and a BA in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin.
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