5 Things We Learned About Princess Eugenie’s Wedding From the New Exhibit at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle now has an exhibit all about Princess Eugenie’s wedding. She married her boyfriend of seven years, Jack Brooksbank, on October 12, 2018, at Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel. Their nuptials followed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding at St. George’s Chapel in May 2018.
On display at the exhibit are Eugenie’s wedding dress, tiara, among other artifacts. Through audio recordings, the exhibit’s guests can hear the princess talk about the process of creating her wedding dress and more. Here’s what we learned about Princess Eugenie’s wedding from the exhibit.
Her dress helped those with scoliosis
Eugenie was diagnosed with scoliosis (a curved spine) at the age of 12 and has scars on her back from surgery.
In an essay for the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, she wrote about having surgery on her spine: “During my operation, which took eight hours, my surgeons inserted eight-inch titanium rods into each side of my spine and one-and-a-half inch screws at the top of my neck. After three days in intensive care, I spent a week on a ward and six days in a wheelchair, but I was walking again after that.”
Because of Princess Eugenie’s scoliosis, a low-back wedding gown was a must.
“I had always wanted a low back, part of it was showing my scar. I believe scars tell a story about your past and your future and it’s a way of getting rid of a taboo,” Eugenie said in an audio recording at the exhibit.
“For me it’s a way of communicating with people who are going through either similar situations with scoliosis or having a scar of their own that they are trying to deal with,” she said.
She got an outpouring of support: “We started getting a lot of letters from people who were happy that I had stood up and showed my scar. People with scoliosis, letters from girls that are going through the same thing, and I definitely was very touched by everyone’s support.”
Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos designed the Princess Eugenie’s ceremony dress, which was long-sleeved with a v-shaped neckline and of course, a low back to showcase her scars.
Grace Kelly inspired her reception dress
Princess Eugenie said that she wanted to channel Grace Kelly’s character in the 1950s film, To Catch a Thief. She worked with American fashion designer, Zac Posen, to create a long-sleeved blush gown for her reception.
“I wanted something reminiscent of Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief so I showed that for reference and Zac came up with this silk that he’d found from Manchester. Every single draping effect, every single detail, every button, it’s all painstakingly done by him and his team,” she said.
She wore a tiara for the first time
Princess Eugenie wore Queen Elizabeth II’s Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, according to the royal family’s website.
“I’ve never worn a tiara before in my life. It was the most incredible thing to wear such a piece of history that my grandmother had lent me, it was a very proud moment,” Princess Eugenie said.
Tiara on display for first time
As well as being Eugenie’s first experience wearing a tiara, the tiara itself is getting a first. The tiara is on display for the first time ever.
The tiara’s formal name is the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara. It’s made of “brilliant and rose-cut diamonds in platinum, with six emeralds on either side.”
The tiara was given to Queen Elizabeth II in 1942 after being made for Mrs. Greville in 1919 by the Parisian jeweler, Boucheron.
Eugenie was extremely involved in the exhibit’s creation
Princess Eugenie involved herself “every step of the way” in the making of the exhibit, Caroline de Guitar, the senior curator of the exhibit, told Town & Country.
She also said how nice it was “to hear personally from her what thought process was behind both the wedding dress and the evening dress, the involvement of the different designers and the way it’s woven very personally into the different aspects of her life.”