Meghan Markle's wedding dress: Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy designs the royal bridal gown of the year
British designer Clare Waight Keller has secured the fashion commission of the year, designing the silk cady royal wedding dress that Meghan Markle has chosen to wear as she marries Prince Harry in Windsor today.
Ms. Markle, now to be known as the Duchess of Sussex, is thought to have requested sketches and samples from several of the UK's leading design names, leaving everyone guessing what she would be wearing right up until the moment she left her hotel, Windsor's Cliveden House, this morning.
Yet as she departed in one of the Queen's vintage Rolls Royces, we got our first glimpse of the white, bateau necked, stiff satin gown that she had ultimately picked - a clean and classic number by Givenchy creative director Clare Waight Keller, a complete outsider whose name has barely been mooted in the mix.
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Choosing Waight Keller, 47, was a surprise move from Meghan. Despite being British, the designer currently is employed by Parisian house Givenchy. In an act of true diplomacy, though, Ms Markle requested that flora from all 53 countries of the Commonwealth be included in the embroideries on her veil - plus a California Poppy or two, to symbolise the State flower from her place of birth, California.
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'Ms. Meghan Markle’s wedding dress has been designed by the acclaimed British designer, Clare Waight Keller,' Kensington Palace confirmed in a statement. 'Ms. Waight Keller last year became the first female Artistic Director at the historic French fashion house Givenchy.'
'Ms. Markle and Ms. Waight Keller worked closely together on the design. The dress epitomises a timeless minimal elegance referencing the codes of the iconic House of Givenchy and showcasing the expert craftsmanship of its world-renowned Parisian couture atelier founded in 1952.'
'It is truly an honour to have been given the opportunity to closely collaborate with Meghan Markle on such a remarkable occasion,' Waight Keller said in a statement released just moments after she had finished adjusting the bride's five metre long silk tulle veil on the steps of the chapel. 'We wanted to create a timeless piece that would emphasise the iconic codes of Givenchy throughout its history, as well as convey modernity through sleek lines and sharp cuts.'
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'It has been an immensely rewarding experience to get to know Meghan on a personal level, one I will forever carry with me. The House of Givenchy joins me in wishing her and Prince Harry every wish of happiness in their future.'
In an interview given back in March 2016, Meghan had described Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s minimalistic gown, worn in 1995 when she married John F. Kennedy Jr., as ‘everything goals’. A bias cut silk satin slip by Narciso Rodriguez, it was timelessly chic, and entirely devoid of embellishment. It clearly provided a reference for what she came to choose today.
The shunning of lace is almost unheard of at a royal wedding - the Duchess of Cambridge, by comparison, wore an exquisitely hand-embroidered lace gown by Alexander McQueen back in 2011, and was keen to emphasise the 'best of British' materials, in reference to the decision Queen Victoria had made in 1840 to promote the nation's skills with her bridal gown. The closest royal reference to Meghan's look, perhaps, would be Princess Margaret's Norman Hartnell gown from 1960.
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The understated aesthetic that Meghan has chosen is, however, an entirely modern choice for an entirely modern bride. Its simplicity should not be misread as plain-ness - six meticulously placed seams form the silhouette of the dress. As she exited the car, the scale of the skirt could be appreciated, and suddenly the entire thing chimed perfectly with the setting.
Autumn Kelly, the last royal bride to marry at St George’s Chapel, saw fit to ‘go big’ on the skirt in order to rise to the grandeur of the venue. The designer responsible for Kelly’s dress, Sassi Holford, told us that Meghan would need “something sizeable going on around the hemline” for this specific location.
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“Even though St George’s Chapel is within the walls of Windsor, it is still the size of a cathedral. I think she likes straight dresses, but if she goes for something like that then I think it will have quite a bit coming out the back, because you need it for the width of the aisle and the height of the room.”
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According to Holford, Ms Markle will also have likely shown her dress to the Queen in the last few days. “The Queen doesn’t need to approve the dress but it’s lovely if she does,” Holford explained. “There isn’t a protocol in place, but it’s considered polite for the bride to ask. I wasn’t there for the conversation, but Autumn told me that the Queen had seen the dress and that she approved. It was only three days before the wedding that this happened, so I was relieved.”
British couture house Ralph and Russo was the front runner for almost the entirety of Meghan and Harry's engagement. It became an early favourite after Meghan wore a ￡56,000 dress of their design in her engagement photographs, which were released on 21st December.
Founders Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo famously specialise in high-octane glamour, and are a favourite amongst Hollywood stars from Angelina Jolie to Gwyneth Paltrow - a look with obvious appeal to Ms Markle. At the label’s most recent catwalk show in January, they presented a bridal ensemble with a skirt that took four people 200 hours to hand-ruche, its embellishments including more than 3,000 Swarovski crystal leaves and 40,000 pearls.
Roland Mouret, a personal friend of Meghan's, was also a favourite name right up until the last moment - indeed the bride-to-be wore a navy wool crepe dress of his design last night, accompanying her mother, Doria Ragland, to dinner at Cliveden House.
Mouret was exceptionally tight-lipped in the run up to today. “Mmmmm, I don’t want to say. It’s… there is no comment on that. She’s a friend. And that’s… I can’t say.” He was one of the first guests to arrive at St George's Chapel today, which effectively ruled him out. If he had done it, he would be behind-the-scenes, with the bride.
Another key question that has caused much speculation amongst fashion commentators is what colour would the bride choose to wear. This being Ms Markle's second marriage, it would generally have been considered inappropriate for her to wear white. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, for example, chose a soft mint hued dress coat when she married Prince Charles in April 2005. Yet in embellishment-free satin, her optic white (really, it couldn't have been whiter) looked sophisticated - perhaps if it had been a delicate lace dress, we would have considered it to be more of a girlish and 'blushing' look associated with a first-time bride.
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Just as we saw with the Duchess of Cambridge’s bespoke Alexander McQueen gown in 2011, copies of the new Duchess of Sussex’s dress will undoubtedly start being run off this afternoon for brides who want to get the look. And just as with Kate's, this is a look that will now go down as a template for modern brides around the world, as well as a future classic. Clare Waight Keller, too, is a name now bound to be inked into the fashion history books.