Princess Diana wore the most outrageous dress just before her wedding

Much has been written about Princess Diana's wedding dress, perhaps the most iconic of all time, thanks to its magnificent train, over-the-top ruffles and 80s pouffy skirt.

However one that hasn't been written about, and indeed has never even been photographed or seen publicly, is an even more outrageous dress, also by David and Elizabeth Emanuel.

They designed it for the bride-to-be, who wore it two days before the big day, Elizabeth revealed in a new interview with The Telegraph.

The Princess of Wales chose it to attend a ball hosted at Buckingham Palace for the 1,400 guests, a mix of foreign royals, dignitaries, celebrities and friends, who were to attend the nuptials that week.

Rather than opting for a demure design, she chose to make a statement with the 'really important gown' which was a bright shade of magenta pink.

It featured a ruffle neckline in an echo of the black dress which turned heads on her first outing after the engagement, and a dramatic thigh slit.

'Diana wanted to look ultra-glamorous for this big event, and by that stage we knew she had the figure of a top model, and was growing more confident by the day. Together with her, we plotted to create a head turning dress that no one would expect or forget,' Elizabeth wrote previously.

Sadly, as the event was private, no pictures of Diana in the gown exist, or if they do they are part of the guests' photo albums, but we can imagine she looked resplendent.

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.