Meghan Markle – Clare Waight Keller at Givenchy
The Duchess of Sussex walked down the aisle wearing an elegant gown designed by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy.
The dress had long sleeves with an open boat neckline and structured design that pulled in at the waist. It featured a long train with a built-in silk organza underskirt.
She wore a veil that was embroidered with flowers representing the countries of the Commonwealth, the California poppy and wintersweet, a flower that grows at Kensington Palace.
This played homage to the look chosen by the Queen at her own wedding in 1947. When Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip, she wore a veil that was also embroidered with the flowers of the Commonwealth.
For her tiara, Beatrice borrowed Queen Mary’s Fringe from her grandmother the Queen – the same diadem Her Majesty wore for her 1947 wedding.
Queen Mary’s Fringe was made by E. Wolff and Co. for Garrard in 1919. It consists of diamonds set in gold and silver, and features 47 diamond bars separated by smaller diamond spikes.
The diamonds were not actually new, and they were a part of a piece made by Collingwood that Queen Victoria gave to Mary in 1893 – Mary wore the Collingwood, which could be styled as a tiara or a necklace, on her wedding day.
On Queen Elizabeth’s wedding day, the tiara caused a commotion when it snapped as it was placed on the bride’s head, and had to be quickly mended by a jeweller from Garrard before she could make her way to Westminster Abbey.