The story behind the Duchess of Cambridge's iconic wedding dress

Seven years have passed since Catherine 'Kate' Middleton stepped out of a vintage Rolls Royce Phantom, revealing her wedding dress to a waiting world audience, estimated at around two billion people. To mark their recent anniversary occasion, we look back at the story behind her Alexander McQueen wedding gown; A dress designed by the label’s creative director, Sarah Burton, that made fashion history...

Keeping a secret

Bound by a confidentiality agreement with Buckingham Palace, Burton went to such lengths to hide her involvement that she told no-one but a core group of colleagues who were tasked with assisting her in the design. "It was so great to actually keep a secret, especially in this day and age when everyone talks about everything," she said at the time.

Burton kept up an elaborate charade for months. "Because my core team knew, it was okay for me to disappear and then come back, and then disappear again. But I remember other people asking me, 'Are you coming in on Friday?' And I'd say, 'Oh, yeah, see you in the morning'. I'd be scheduling meetings knowing full well I wasn't going to be there for them," she told Vogue.

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art was hosting its tremendous Alexander McQueen retrospective just days after the royal wedding and Burton used that as a cover story when explaining why she kept missing appointments.

The design

"What we wanted to achieve was something incredibly beautiful and intricately worked. A lot of it was in the subtlety of the detail, but it was at Westminster Abbey so it still had to have a presence," Burton said, describing the design. The Duchess had regular input as the dress was being made, including her insistence on a virtually unadorned silk veil to give the outfit a "romantic feel".

The classic silhouette and graceful lines could have been inspired by both the modernist Princess Margaret, who in 1960 also married in Westminster Abbey, and the more romantic style of Princess Grace of Monaco, whose wedding had taken place four years earlier. The latter reference could be also be seen as a very sensitive homage to Diana, Princess of Wales, who had had an instant rapport with the former Hollywood film star and saw her as a style icon.

The design was perfectly in tune with Ms Middleton's desire that it should combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterises Britain's most famous fashion label, established by the late Lee Alexander McQueen, in 1994.

Heritage craftsmanship

Nearly 200 years of British royal history and the heritage of the Arts and Crafts tradition were incorporated into the gown. Its exquisite hand-embroidered and appliquéd lace, and emphasis on 'best of British' materials, recalled Queen Victoria's decision in 1840 that her bridal gown should promote the nation's skills.

It featured a strapless,Victorian-style corset, narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips - a signature of the late couturier - underneath a high-necked, long-sleeved, sculpted bodice in intricate lacework. The embroidery incorporated individual, hand-cut flowers - rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock - each one cut out and placed on a paper pattern of the dress to finalise the design, before the lace was sent to the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey to be hand-sewn onto satin. The hand-stitchers washing their hands every thirty minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine, and changing the needles every three hours.

The English Cluny lace was handworked in the Carrickmacross tradition, which originated in Ireland in the 1820's, and was mixed with French Chantilly lace. The lace was also used to trim the skirt, as well as the veil, which was made in layers of ivory silk tulle, and the ivory duchesse satin shoes.

The main body of the dress was made in ivory and white satin gazar, using UK fabrics which had been specially sourced by Sarah Burton, with a long, full skirt designed to echo an opening flower, with soft pleats which unfolded to the floor, forming a Victorian-style semi-bustle at the back, and finishing in a short train measuring just under three metres.

Burton described the dress as "a real feat of engineering", with a hidden bustle and weighted panels to ensure it "didn't collapse" when the Duchess walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey. "We weighted the whole of the bottom part of the dress with canvas, and in particular the middle (of the train) so when we lifted the dress it would fall back in exactly the same position."

The details

Ms. Middleton's veil of ivory silk tulle was held in place by a Cartier 'halo' tiara, loaned by the Queen. Made in 1936, it was given to her on her 18th birthday, by her mother. The bride's earrings, diamond-set oak leaves with a pavé diamond acorn in the centre, were inspired by the Middleton family's new coat of arms, and made by Robinson Pelham, to echo the tiara.

The bouquet spoke a message in the language of flowers. Designed by Shane Connolly, it featured blooms of significance to both families - lily-of-the-valley, meaning return of happiness; sweet william, for gallantry; hyacinth, for constancy of love; ivy, for fidelity, marriage, wedded love, friendship and affection; and myrtle, the emblem of marriage and love - with sprigs picked from both the evergreen shrub planted at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845 and a plant grown from the myrtle used in the Queen's wedding bouquet.

The designer was hands-on to the last. She helped arrange the train and veil as Ms Middleton settled into the car for the journey to the abbey, and was even glimpsed arranging the train as the bride and her father were greeted by the Dean of Westminster, before proceeding to the High Altar. "It has been the experience of a lifetime to work with Catherine Middleton, to create her wedding dress, and I have enjoyed every minute of it," Sarah Burton said. "I remember standing in Westminster Abbey thinking, 'This is unreal'. It was like a fairy tale. And all I could think was, 'I hope I don't trip over'. I didn't realise the enormity of it until much nearer the wedding day. It was a magical experience."