Five fascinating facts about Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-lived monarch in British history, died at her Balmoral home on September 8, 2022. She was 96 years old.

The ever-stylish Queen married dashing naval officer Prince Philip of Greece on November 20, 1947, in the wedding everyone was waiting for in post-World War II Britain.

Ahead of the big day, speculation about what the 21-year-old princess would wear hit a fever pitch.

The windows of designer Norman Hartnell's studio had to be covered to prevent spying, and there is even a historical novel about the production of the famous dress, entitled "The Gown".

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The stunning dress has an incredible story behind it, and we're taking a look back at Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding with five fascinating facts about her stunning outfit:

1. The final design was approved less than three months before the wedding.

While many brides these days order their dresses nine months to a year or more in advance, Princess Elizabeth II's dress was not made until August 1947, according to the Royal Collection Trust - less than three months before her wedding .

A design sketched by Norman Hartnell, one of England's leading fashion designers at the time, won; he called it "the most beautiful dress I've ever worn," per People.

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It took the hard work of 350 women to create the intricately detailed piece in such a short time frame, and they were all sworn to secrecy to protect every detail about Princess Elizabeth's special day from being leaked. print.

Betty Foster, a then 18-year-old seamstress who worked on the dress in Hartnell's studio, told the Telegraph that "the Americans had rented the flat opposite to see if they could see the dress and that [Hartnell] had to cover up windows of the study with whitewash to stop this”.

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2. Common women gave Princess Elizabeth their ration coupons to help pay for the dress.

In post-war Britain, austerity meant people had to use clothing ration vouchers – and as you can imagine, an expensive wedding dress wasn't exactly within that budget.

The expensive fabric used for Princess Elizabeth's dress was especially hard to come by at the time, as bridesmaid (and Prince Philip's cousin) Lady Pamela Hicks told People.

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"Tulle was easy to buy, whereas duchess satin was so hard to come by in those days," she said, adding that the bridesmaids wore tulle dresses while the princess' dress was satin with tulle accents.

The British government gave Princess Elizabeth 200 extra ration coupons, per town and country, but women across the UK were so happy to see her get married that they actually mailed in their coupons to help cover the clothing.

While Hicks said the princess had to return them by post – it was actually illegal to give vouchers – it was a touching show of support for Elizabeth and the monarchy. "It showed how people wanted to be involved," said the royal bridesmaid.

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3. The princess's dress was inspired by a Botticelli painting

According to the Royal Collection Trust, Hartnell's inspiration for the wedding dress came from an unusual place: the famous Italian artist Sandro Botticelli's painting "Primavera".

The word "primavera" means spring in Italian, and the painting features Flora, the goddess of spring, and Venus, the goddess of love and beauty - a perfect way to combine the new beginning of a wedding and also a new beginning after the war. .

Like the flower-embellished dress in the painting, Princess Elizabeth's was covered in intricate flower and leaf motifs embroidered with crystal and pearls.

4. The design contained 10 seed pearls imported from America

A striking detail in Princess Elizabeth's elaborate wedding dress and veil? Her look is covered in 10 stunning pearls, all hand-stitched onto the dress in a floral pattern.

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While care was taken to ensure that the silk and satin were produced in Britain (including Lullingstone Castle, Kent and Dunfermline, Scotland, according to the Royal Collection Trust), the pearls of the dress were actually imported from America.

A problem with silk fabric? The palace had to reassure the public that the silkworms came from China, and not from one of the countries Britain fought in the war, such as Japan or Italy, according to Town and Country.

5. Princess Elizabeth didn't try on the dress until her wedding day

Although members of the royal family obviously have wedding dress fittings like other brides-to-be, it turns out that Princess Elizabeth didn't actually know if her dress fit until the morning she got married.

Foster, the aforementioned dressmaker, told the Telegraph that Elizabeth's dress was delivered on the day of the wedding, "respecting the tradition that it would be unlucky" to try it on before then.

While another member of staff, Miss Yvonne, went to Buckingham Palace to fit the bride, Foster revealed she had some worries on the wedding day. "She told us that the King had offered Princess Elizabeth a drink to calm her nerves, but she had refused it." /Telegraph/