I don’t know about you but royal wedding dresses are usually a disappointment for me. They are either remarkably plain (apologies to the Duchess of Cambridge but hers was boring) or they compete in fluffiness with the wedding cake (the eighties was a bad time for this – Princess Diana’s and The Duchess of York’s are good examples).
But there was a royal wedding in 2011 when the dress was simply perfect. In fact, gorgeous.
This is Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock marrying Albert II, Prince of Monaco. More of the details to follow but that crossover, off-the-shoulder look is terrific. And Princess Charlene, as a former Olympic swimmer, has just the right shoulders to wear such a garment.
The dress was created by Georgio Armani. You can just see in the image above that the dress had Swarovski crystals sewn into the silk fabric. But here’s a glimpse of the back of the dress.
You can just see the tiny fabric-covered buttons that run down the bride’s spine. Such a gorgeous detail.
The dress had two trains as you can see below.
One train ran from the back of the dress while the other was formed by her skirt. The larger (and heavier) one was removed after the ceremony. Did you notice something else that you rarely see with royal brides? No tiara. Instead Charlene wore the most exquisite hair ornament.
This had belonged to the groom’s grandmother, Princess Charlotte, and dates from the nineteenth century. It now belongs to the groom’s sister, Princess Caroline so as well as looking wonderful, it answers the ‘something borrowed, tradition. You can see it more closely in the photograph below.
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