Princess Diana had a secret umbrella made to match her wedding dress

princess diana wedding dress
(Image credit: © David Levenson)
Penny Goldstone
By Penny Goldstone
published

Princess Diana and Prince Charles' wedding may have been decades ago, but we're still just as obsessed with every detail surrounding her wedding dress as we were then, including the romantic detail she had hidden in it, where the gown is now and even why it was creased.

Designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel had every eventuality covered, and even had a back up wedding dress in case something happened to the first one.

They also had a secret umbrella made, in case it was to rain on the big day, as just before the big day, the forecast was grey with chances of showers.

The couple made a sketch of it to match her wedding dress, and alongside it wrote, 'the wedding umbrella in case of rain. Made of the same fabric as wedding shoes and trimmed with lace, hand embroidered with sequins and pearls.'

Image: PA. Sketches of accessories which will be worn or carried by Lady Diana Spencer during her wedding to the Prince of Wales at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Clive Shilton created the slippers. A tiny golden horseshoe studded with diamonds has been sewn in to her dress, designed by Elizabeth and David Emanuel, for good luck. There is a pochette and, in case of inclement weather, a wedding umbrella matching her dress.
(Image credit: PA)

They bought antique parasols that they adorned with the aforementioned details. Luckily, it did not rain at the wedding, so the umbrella never saw the light of day, but it looked cute and would've made a lovely addition to the look.

However Elizabeth did admit later on that it wouldn't have been much use in the rain, telling the Daily Mail, 'It was made of such light material that it certainly wasn’t waterproof — it wouldn’t have done her much good!'

The umbrella went on to be exhibited at Madame Tussauds in London, with the replica of the wedding dress.

Penny Goldstone
Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.

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