Just over 45 years ago, then 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer walked down the aisle at St Paul's Cathedral for her wedding to Prince Charles, 32.
On what would have been their anniversary on 29 July, the late Princess Diana's wedding dress designer Elizabeth Emanuel took to Instagram to share behind-the-scenes photos of the preparations.
Amid the top-secret development process, Elizabeth and her then-husband David hid out in their Brook Street, Mayfair studio to put together what is now one of the most talked-about bridal gowns in history.
One unearthed photo showed a dressmaker on their knees as they hemmed the ends of the full skirt by hand. A second showed the gown in its more finished form with the puff shoulders, bow-adorned bodice and lace-trimmed sleeves.
"Hard to believe it’s 45 years since the Royal Wedding! The behind-the-scenes photos bring back so many memories. I’m delighted the collection has now been beautifully curated and digitised by Iconic Images so that these moments can be preserved for many years to come," Elizabeth captioned the photos.
One iconic part of the wedding dress that was not evident in the photos was the 25-foot train. The designer previously opened up to HELLO! about how they only got to see the final result during a last-minute fitting at Buckingham Palace.
Diana's wedding dress designer on creating the "dramatic" gown
© Getty"We had a final fitting at Buckingham Palace where, for the first time, we were able to unravel the train, because our showroom was very small. So we had to wait until we went to the Palace and use one of the corridors to unroll the train, which is 25 foot long!" said Elizabeth, who has also worked with Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor and Priyanka Chopra.
She added to HELLO!: "It was being altered continually because Diana did lose a lot of weight. So we didn't cut into it until the last moment."
The "very theatrical, very dramatic" gown was successfully kept under wraps until the moment Diana left Clarence House on the morning of her wedding, but it wasn't an easy feat. Elizabeth explained that there were measures in place to ensure the dress remained a secret.
© Getty"We had the dress stored every night in a metal cabinet guarded by two guards, Jim and Bert. So there was somebody there 24 hours a day and we put shutters on all our windows, and we put false colour threads in the rubbish bins because people were going through our bins," Elizabeth explained, before adding they had a back-up dress if the design was leaked to the press.
Recreating Diana's 'missing' veil
The late Princess wore a 140-metre veil designed by artisans at Hand & Lock, which she secured in place with the Spencer tiara. After the veil supposedly went missing, Renae Plant, founder of The Princess Diana Museum, turned to Elizabeth to oversee a recreation.
She took an original piece of the fabric, which she described as having an "airy, delicate feel" to the original designers Hand & Lock.
"It needs that veil. That's the whole magic. That's why I call it the Veil of Light. You can see the twinkle, and it radiates. The dress isn't as complete without the veil," Elizabeth told People.
