Victoria didn't have to get married in front of live TV cameras with thousands of reporters and photographers camped outside. And she tied the knot in a relatively small private chapel, not the cavernous chamber of London's Westminster Abbey.
That means a small basic dress like Victoria's simply won't do for Middleton, said Joanna Marschner, senior curator at Britain's Historic Royal Palaces, which takes care of Victoria's gown and other dresses worn by past royal brides.
Image: In this undated photo released by the Royal Collection on April 21 2011, the silk satin wedding dress worn by Queen Victoria in 1840, when she married Albert Saxe-Coburg, is prepared by a conservator for conservation work to begin. As speculation continues as to the design of Catherine Middleton's wedding dress, a precious collection of historic royal wedding dresses worn by royal brides over the last 200 years have just undergone over 1000 hours of conservation treatment by conservators from Britain's Historic Royal Palaces. The wedding dresses belonging to Princess Charlotte (1816), Queen Victoria (1840), Alexandra of Denmark (1863), Princess Mary of Teck (1893), Princess Margaret (1960) and Princess Alexandra of Kent (1963) are usually carefully stored at Kensington Palace but have been made available to the media and are viewable on the Historic Royal Palaces website. (AP Photo/The Royal Collection/Historic Royal Palaces)
Text & Images: AP
