The Actual Cost of the Royals' Most Famous Wedding Gowns

When the future queen married Prince Philip, she chose royal couturier Norman Hartnell to design her dress. War-time rationing was still in place, which meant coupons were saved up to pay for the dress, and the young princess received 200 coupons from the government. The exquisite gown with its 15 foot train was made from lustrous cream duchess satin, and stitched with 10,000 seed pearls, silver thread, crystals, and tulle appliqués. Hartnell took inspiration from the Botticelli painting Primavera, and smothered the dress in jeweled orange blossom, syringa and jasmine, ears of corn to represent fertility, and flowers and leaves to represent England and the Commonwealth countries including roses, thistles and maple leaves.

In a highly sensitive post-war era, rumors circulated that "enemy" Japanese silkworms were used for the royal gown, but it was later confirmed the silk was generated from Chinese silkworms. It has never been disclosed how much the dress cost, but the exact recreation of the gown that was made for the first season of The Crown cost $37,000.

For her wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones, the queen's sister Princess Margaret went for a simple and stylish silhouette. She too employed the services of royal couturier Norman Hartnell, but her wedding gown could not have been more different. Where the queen's was lavish and ornate, Margaret's was made from white silk organza, with a fitted bodice, cinched waist, and ballgown-style skirt. There were no adornments, and no train for the uncharacteristically pared-down princess.

When Anne married Mark Phillips her choice of dress was a little left field for a princess. She very much stamped her own style on the creation, working with designer Maureen Baker on all of the details. Anne opted for a Tudor-style dress which covered her from neck to toe, and which featured trailing medieval sleeves that were puffed to the wrist underneath. The dress featured seed pearls running in lines from the collar down through the bodice, and swept into a seven foot train.

The big day of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles was billed as 'the wedding of the decade', and the dress didn't disappoint. Designers Elizabeth and David Emmanuel decided to aim for the stars with their creation, and Elizabeth recalled later, "We wanted her to look like no princess had ever looked before, so we set out to discover the length of the longest royal wedding dress train there’d been, and discovered it was 23 feet. We joked that we could go one better — in fact, two feet better — and make one that was 25 feet. She loved the idea."

The dress was made from ivory silk taffeta and Diana's "something old" was lace that had belonged to Queen Mary incorporated into the bodice. The gown was stitched with 10,000 seed pearls and mother-of-pearl sequins, while the voluminous puffed sleeves were decorated with hundreds of tiny ribbons, and the frilled neckline was set off with taffeta bows. Diana's "something blue" was a bow stitched into the underskirts of the dress, and the Emmanuels also stitched a tiny horseshoe into the underskirts for luck.

It's thought that the dress cost $12,000, which would be around $33,000 today.

When Camilla and Prince Charles finally married, Camilla chose an elegant ivory Robinson Valentine outfit for her civil ceremony. The silk chiffon dress was hemmed with rows of appliqued woven disks, and she wore a matching silk basket weave coat over the top.

For the post-civil ceremony blessing the new Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall wore another coat and dress by one of her favorite design houses Robinson Valentine. The second outfit was more lavish and formal, featuring a pale blue and gold embroidered damask coat over a matching chiffon gown.

For her wedding to the queen's eldest grandchild Peter, Autumn Kelly opted for ivory duchess satin – the same fabric as the queen and Sarah Ferguson, but in a different shade. Autumn's gown was designed by Sassi Holford, and also featured a beaded bolero of ivory Chantilly lace. Even though the front of the dress was simple and understated, the back featured Chantilly lace inserts and hand-tied bows. The dress was said to have cost $4,000.

After months of speculation, Kate's choice of dress was revealed on the morning of her marriage to Prince William. It was the first time Kate had worn an Alexander McQueen design, and the gown was the vision of creative director Sarah Burton. The theme of Kate's wedding was "the language of flowers", and not only did the Chantilly lace of the gown feature roses, daffodils, thistles and shamrocks to represent England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but even the shape of the skirt was designed to emulate the petals of a flower opening.

The dress featured a nine foot train, and was made from ivory satin gazar with a fitted bodice, slight padding on the hips to accentuate the cinched in waist, and long sleeves that buttoned at the wrist. To ensure Kate’s dress was pristine, lace-making needles were changed every three hours, while workers washed their hands every 30 minutes. The dress is reported to have cost $334,000.

Low-key Zara chose a minimal dress for her wedding to Mike Tindall. The ivory gown was made of silk faille and silk duchesse satin, and created by royal couturier Stuart Parvin. The structured bodice featured an empire waist detail leading into chevron pleats, while the bell-shaped skirt was finished with a contrasting band at the hemline. A row of covered buttons ran the length of the dress at the back, and the skirt featured pockets.