| For Sale! The Wedding Dress of Princess Diana... |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | ||||
| Thursday, 17 November 2005 | ||||
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The wedding dress of Princess Diana is going on sale and is expected to reach over one hundred thousand dollars at auction! But before you throw your arms up in horror (or reach for the chequebook!), don't worry: the dress being sold is not THE dress which is now on display at Althorp. No, it's a copy which belongs to Madame Tussauds waxwork museum.  Truth be told Princess Diana came to dislike her wedding dress, reportedly confiding years later that she found it too "fussy". Of course, the style of Lady Diana was a world away from that of the international style icon 'HRH The Princess of Wales' and so it was perfectly understandable that, as happens with many brides, the Princess later cringed at the thought of the dress she wore on her big day. Now, though, the world is about to be reminded of that glorious July 1981 wedding, an event which Prince Charles and the former Camilla Parker Bowles (the other woman Diana dubbed 'The Rottweiller") must surely wish would be relegated once and for all to history. However, they aren't alone if they feel anger at this news. Diana's wedding dress designer Elizabeth Emmanuel has condemned the upcoming December 7th auction saying: "The Princess hoped it would be a small piece of history that would be put on display for the world to enjoy. It’s like they are selling off the family silver. Why can’t they just donate it to a museum, I’m sure there are others who would appreciate it?". Considering a small piece of the wedding cake of Edward and Mrs Simpson was sold for twenty eight thousand dollars in February 1998, we can't begin to imagine how much auctioneers Cooper Owen can hope to sell Princess Diana's dress for, the reason being it's claimed this copy was the one Diana wore during the regular wedding dress fittings she attended (as seen in the photo below).  Several royal brides have made sure the world famous waxworks had an immediate copy of their wedding dress. The most recent royal lady to do this was Sophie Rhys Jones, the Countess of Wessex. Just hours after her marriage to Prince Edward in June 1999, Tussauds unveiled their new display showing Sophie and Edward in their wedding outfits. The following year the museum enjoyed success with an exhibition showing Sophie alongside Princess Diana and Fergie (Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York) in their wedding dresses. All three dresses will now be sold. The request to make a double for Tussauds of Lady Diana's dress was originally greeted with horror, as Elizabeth Emmanuel explains: "In the run-up to the wedding we were asked by Diana's office if we could make a copy of the dress for Madame Tussauds. I can't say we were delighted as we were working flat out, but since it was at the Princess's personal request we agreed. We only charged Tussauds a nominal fee, just a few thousand pounds to cover the cost of the materials. To find out that they are now flogging our work is astounding". Madame Tussauds hit back at the stinging criticism, explaining that "the dress was displayed for a year after Diana's wedding and was one of our most popular attractions, but since then it has only been taken out of the archives twice".  The dress may have been in the archives but that royal wedding will live long in the memories of those who witnessed it. Even two very special young people who weren't there have often viewed the event. In the late 1980s Princess Diana was quoted as having told friends how her young sons kept repeatedly watching a video of the wedding of "Mummy and Papa". She laughingly told how "my boys" kept pestering her as to why they weren't there (a question many parents around the world could no doubt associate with!). By the way, have you ever wondered what happened to that large, blue-stoned engagement ring which Princess Diana wore for most of her royal life? Following her death on August 31st 1997, Diana's 16 year-old son Prince William asked for and received the engagement ring. It was claimed the sensitive Prince was keen to own the ring as a reminder of the days when his mother and father loved each other. The question all royal watchers and media alike will want to know is whether William will ever, in turn, give the ring to the girl he loves? And could the final owner be Kate Middleton, the brunette who, as we reported, William this week confirmed as being his "steady" girlfriend? Comment on this article
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