7 most daring royal wedding dresses: from Princess Diana’s dramatic 8-metre train to Hollywood star Rita Hayworth’s blue gown and Princess Eugenie’s scar-showing low-back design

Jan 17 , 2022

These royals certainly didn’t hold back with their wedding dresses on their big day. Photos: @princesseugenie/Instagram, @theprincesschronicle/ Instagram, @princesseugenie/Instagram

Back in 1923 the British queen mother raised eyebrows with a wedding dress featuring a drop waist and two trains – Princess Diana just took the train trend even further

Zara Phillips donned a daring sheer gown and Princess Nina of Greece chose Chanel couture, while Lady Gabriella Windsor followed Rita Hayworth with a blue-tinged gown

A royal life is one of rules and conventions. But that doesn’t mean traditions haven’t been bent to breaking point over the years. From all the way back to the queen mother’s trendy 1920s turn, to Princess Eugenie’s wedding dress featuring a low back that showed her scar from scoliosis surgery, these are our favourite convention-busting wedding day looks.

1. The queen mother’s trendy 1920s wedding dress broke tradition with a drop waist and two trains

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (now known as queen mother Elizabeth) poses for her wedding portrait with Britain’s Duke of York. They married on April 26,1923. He went on to become King George. Photo: AP Photo

The dress was created by royal dressmaker Madame Handley Seymour for the 1923 wedding. One of its trains fell from the shoulder, while the other fell from the hip.

2. Rita Hayworth chose a non-traditional blue wedding dress for her 1949 wedding to Prince Aly Khan of Pakistan

The wedding reception of Prince Aly Khan and Rita Hayworth was held at the Château de l’Horizon on France’s Mediterranean coast.

The tea-length Christian Dior dress featured a V-neck and full skirt. Hayworth paired it with a matching Dior hat.

3. Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding dress famously included a dramatic 8-metre train

Diana, Princess of Wales, in her headline-stealing wedding dress. Photo: AFP

The storied dress was designed by husband and wife duo Elizabeth and David Emanuel.