Why was Princess Diana’s wedding dress so creased?

Love it or loathe it, Princess Diana's wedding dress will forever remain as one of the most iconic royal wedding dresses of all time.

Designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, the gown broke all records with its 10,000 pearls and mega long train and veil (it cost £9,000 at the time), and was accessorised with shoes that featured a romantic detail nodding to Prince Charles.

Whilst many thought it was the perfect fairytale princess dress, at the time others did criticise one particular detail: the fact that it had creases.

In fact, it even shocked designer Elizabeth, who said during an ITV appearance for Meghan and Harry's wedding, 'We did know it would crease a bit but when I saw her arrive at St Paul's and we saw the creasing I actually felt faint. I was horrified, really, because it was quite a lot of creasing. It was a lot more than we thought.'

This happened despite many dress rehearsals in the run-up to the big day, and the wrinkles were apparently due to the carriage ride, according to the designer.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Elizabeth said that the rehearsal hadn't factored in the fact that Diana would ride in the carriage with her father, or how big her dress had gotten, as the Princess apparently kept asking for a bigger train.

'In the tiny carriage, it had crumpled far more than we’d anticipated. We’d done a rehearsal, but not with her father, Earl Spencer, in the car, too — and he was quite a large man. It was a hot day, there was so much volume in the net and she was nervous, so she kept grabbing hold of it in her hands. Fortunately, we knew the fabric would pull out — that’s why we were there', she said.

However, in the end it all worked out, as the designer said the wrinkles added romance to proceedings.

'When she came out of that carriage, it was the most wonderful vision I’d ever seen. She looked like a butterfly emerging from her chrysalis, unfurling her wings and about to fly. It was so romantic. Oddly, the imperfections seemed to make her even more beautiful,' she added.

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.