THE 1947 ROYAL WEDDING: The Bride, the Outfit, and the Drama
Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress was designed by the British fashion designer, Norman Hartnell. It was inspired by Sandro Botticelli’s painting Primavera, which symbolizes the coming of spring.
At the time rationing was still imposed so Princess Elizabeth had to save her ration coupons to buy the materials of her dress. Many people in the United Kingdom sent their own coupons to help the princess but they were returned because it would have been illegal to accept them.
The dress was made from ivory silk duchess satin and decorated with white roses of York embroidered in 10,000 seed pearls and ears of corn embroidered in crystals. It featured long sleeves, fitted bodice, heart-shaped neckline, floor-length panelled skirt, and a 15-foot silk tulle full court train embroidered with pearls, crystals, and applique tulle embroidery.
Princess Elizabeth wanted the design of her wedding dress not to be leaked to the press so as not to spoil Prince Philip’s surprise, so Norman Hartnell had the windows of his workroom whitewashed and curtained with thick muslin to prevent everyone from peeking. After the first fitting though, the princess allowed some fashion writers to see the designs provided they promised not to reveal the design until the wedding day. Unfortunately, one newspaper published a sketch a week before the wedding, and everyone went to extreme lengths just to hide the sketch from Prince Philip.
Princess Elizabeth’s wedding shoes was an ivory silk duchess satin high-heeled sandals, trimmed with silver and seed pearl buckles, made by Edward Rayne.
The Queen Mary’s diamond fringe tiara that was lent to Princess Elizabeth on her wedding day snapped as it was being put on her head. The Queen Mother then suggested she wear a different tiara, but the princess did not want to. In the end, the broken tiara was rushed to the court jeweler so it could be repaired.
Princess Elizabeth wanted to wear the Queen Anne and Queen Caroline necklaces, which was given to her as a wedding present by King George VI. However, they were sent over to St. James’s Palace along with the rest of the wedding presents for public display.
Mr. Jock Colville, the princess’s new private secretary, volunteered to retrieve the necklaces for her. He ran into King Haakon VII of Norway as he made his way out of Buckingham Palace, whom noticed that he was in a hurry and so lent him his own car. But since the car couldn’t pass through due to the crowd gathering outside the palace, Colville had no choice but to run all the way to St. James’s Palace – which is just less than half a mile from Buckingham Palace.
When Colville reached St. James’s Palace, the detectives guarding the royal wedding gifts did not know him and so didn’t believe his story. He pleaded with them, but to no avail. He asked them to telephone Buckingham Palace, but the line was dead. After some time, the detectives relented and allowed him to take the necklaces back to the palace with a policeman and a few detectives accompanying him.
The Duchess of Teck’s earrings that Princess Elizabeth wore on her wedding day were a present from Queen Mary in January 1947. They were originally owned by Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester.
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