Celebrity wedding veils · The royal chapters · 1947–2018
Royal Wedding Veils: From Diana to Kate — and How to Get the Look
No veils are studied more closely than the royal ones. Each of the four great royal weddings of the modern age put a different veil at its centre: Princess Elizabeth's soft tulle in 1947, Diana's grand cloud of tulle in 1981, Kate's exercise in restraint in 2011, and Meghan's five metres of embroidered Commonwealth flowers in 2018. Four brides, four different answers to the same question. What ties them together is the fabric.
We have made wedding veils by hand in Bath since 2007, in the same silk tulle these veils were cut from. What follows is that story as a veil maker reads it: what each bride wore, why it worked, and how to discover the same look for your own wedding.
Chapter one · 29 July 1981 · St Paul's Cathedral
Princess Diana's wedding veil: the drama
Shop the two tier veil →
When Lady Diana Spencer stepped out of the Glass Coach at St Paul's Cathedral, the first thing the world saw was the size of it all. David and Elizabeth Emanuel had made a dress of ivory silk taffeta and antique lace with a 25-foot train, the longest of any royal wedding dress, and about 153 yards of tulle went into the veil. She wore it forward over her face up the aisle, held by her own family's Spencer tiara.
What we take from 1981, as veil makers, is the two tier veil: a blusher worn forward for the walk, a long layer behind, and a simple edge so nothing gets in the way of the tulle.
Chapter two · 29 April 2011 · Westminster Abbey
Kate Middleton's wedding veil: the restraint
Thirty years later the pendulum swung all the way back. For her wedding to Prince William at Westminster Abbey, Kate Middleton wore a dress by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, and a veil that did as much as it needed to and nothing more. The Royal School of Needlework made it from layers of soft ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers. She wore it forward over her face up the aisle, held by a Cartier ‘halo’ tiara lent by the Queen.
The lesson of 2011 is that a veil does not need length to change a bridal look. Silk tulle this fine reads as mist: through it, the lace of the dress stayed clear, and the embroidered edge drew a fine line around the veil so it never vanished against the ivory.
- Read the full story: Kate Middleton's wedding veil →Who made it, the tiara, and how to get the look
- Pure silk drop veil — ‘Clarence’Pure silk tulle, worn forward over the face
- Full lace edged single tier veil — ‘Ada’Lace along the entire hem, comb to train
- Full lace edged ivory veil — ‘Luisa’The same craft in warm ivory
Shop ‘Clarence’ →
The supporting chapters · 1947 & 2018
Two more royal veils worth studying
Princess Elizabeth, 1947: the soft cloud
The future Queen Elizabeth II married in a Norman Hartnell gown embroidered with flowers chosen as symbols of rebirth and renewal after the war, and over it a veil of soft tulle that sat around her like a cloud, held by a diamond fringe tiara borrowed from her mother. The tiara's fastening famously snapped as the veil was being fixed, hours before the service, and it was rushed to the jeweller; the tulle gave no trouble at all. Soft silk tulle drapes closer to the head and falls more quietly than any other veiling, which is why it suits gowns with embroidery to show off.
Meghan, 2018: the five-metre statement
At St George's Chapel, Windsor, the Duchess of Sussex answered a minimal Givenchy gown with the most ambitious veil embroidery of the century: five metres of silk tulle by Clare Waight Keller, embroidered with flowers from all 53 Commonwealth countries. Crisp silk tulle was the right choice: it holds its spread on stone steps, so the veil kept its shape for the photograph everyone remembers.
1947 to 2020
Every modern royal bride, at a glance
- 1947
Princess Elizabeth
A Norman Hartnell dress embroidered with pearls, a tulle veil and Queen Mary's diamond fringe tiara. Westminster Abbey.
- 1973
Princess Anne
A high-necked dress by Maureen Baker of Susan Small, with a veil held by the same fringe tiara her mother wore in 1947. Westminster Abbey.
- 1981
Lady Diana Spencer
Ivory silk taffeta by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, a 25-foot train and a full tulle veil worn over the face, with the Spencer tiara. St Paul's Cathedral. Read more →
- 1986
Sarah Ferguson
A dress by Lindka Cierach and a long veil worn over the face, held by a crown of flowers that came off after the service to show a tiara beneath. Westminster Abbey.
- 1999
Sophie Rhys-Jones
A slim dress and long coat of silk and tulle by Samantha Shaw, beaded with pearls and glass. St George's Chapel, Windsor.
- 2005
Camilla Parker Bowles
No veil: coat dresses by Robinson Valentine and a hat by Philip Treacy, for a civil wedding followed by a blessing at St George's Chapel.
- 2011
Catherine Middleton
Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, and a silk tulle veil with a hand-embroidered edge by the Royal School of Needlework. Westminster Abbey. Read more →
- 2018
Meghan Markle
Givenchy by Clare Waight Keller, and a five-metre silk tulle veil embroidered with flowers from all 53 Commonwealth countries. St George's Chapel, Windsor. Read more →
- 2018
Princess Eugenie
No veil: a dress by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos with a low back, and the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara. St George's Chapel, Windsor.
- 2020
Princess Beatrice
A vintage Norman Hartnell dress lent by the Queen and remodelled for her, with a tulle veil and the same fringe tiara the Queen wore in 1947. Royal Chapel of All Saints, Windsor.
Beyond Britain
- 2004
Letizia Ortiz, now Queen of Spain
A silk dress by Manuel Pertegaz embroidered in silver and gold thread, and a veil of ivory silk tulle about three metres long, hand-embroidered with fleurs-de-lis and ears of wheat. The veil was a gift from Prince Felipe. Almudena Cathedral, Madrid.
On screen
- 2019
The Crown, made in our workshop
We made the veil Emerald Fennell wore as Camilla Shand at her first wedding, in season three of The Crown: a cathedral-length single tier veil worn high, with plenty of volume. Our ‘Niacae’ veil is based on it.
The maker's reading
What royal wedding veils have in common
- Fine tulle
- Royal veils are made of fine tulle, and Kate's and Meghan's were silk. Synthetic tulle holds a stiff, glassy sparkle; silk tulle moves like air and takes light softly, which is why it photographs so well. It is the fabric our workshop has worked with since 2007: soft silk for drape, crisp silk for structure.
- Cathedral proportions
- Diana's dress had a 25-foot train; Meghan's veil ran to five metres. A cathedral veil is long enough to pass the train of most gowns, so the veil draws the final line down the aisle. Grand settings ask for it, and it is the length brides borrow from royal weddings more than any other.
- Hand-finished edges
- The Royal School of Needlework's embroidered flowers for Kate; Commonwealth flowers for Meghan; fleurs-de-lis and wheat for Letizia. The edge is where a veil shows it was made by hand, and ours are still finished by hand at a worktable in Bath.
None of this is beyond reach: the materials and methods behind the royal veils are the same ones we use at our own worktable in Bath. If the length is the part you're unsure of, our guide What is a cathedral-length veil? walks through it, and the cathedral-length collection gathers every veil we make at royal proportions.
Your questions, answered
Have any royal brides not worn a veil?
Yes. Camilla wore a hat by Philip Treacy rather than a veil when she married the Prince of Wales in 2005, and Princess Eugenie wore no veil at all in 2018, letting the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara and the low back of her dress stand on their own. Most royal brides still choose a veil, but it is a choice, not a rule.
Did Britten make a veil for The Crown?
Yes. In 2019 we made the veil Emerald Fennell wore as Camilla Shand at her first wedding, in season three of The Crown (episode nine, ‘Imbroglio’). It was a cathedral-length single tier veil worn high on the head, with plenty of volume. Our extra wide single tier veil, ‘Niacae’, is based on it.
What is a cathedral veil?
Veil lengths are measured from the comb to the hem. A church-length veil is around 2.5 metres, a cathedral veil around 3 metres, and an extra-long cathedral veil 3.5 metres or more. A cathedral veil is long enough to pass the train of most gowns, so the veil rather than the dress draws the final line down the aisle. You can read our full guide: What is a cathedral-length veil?
How long was Meghan Markle's veil?
Meghan Markle's veil was five metres long: silk tulle by Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy, embroidered with flowers from all 53 Commonwealth countries. She wore it at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on 19 May 2018.
From the workshop
Four brides, four veils, one thread
The royal formula hasn't changed in eighty years: silk tulle, cut long and finished by hand. Explore our cathedral-length veils, or trace the whole story, royal and otherwise, in the most stunning celebrity wedding veils of all time.