Royal Wedding Gowns Answers

In this fashionable quiz, our experts could earn half a point each for correctly naming the designer(s) of the wedding gowns for the following royal brides. Here are the answers.

1. Lady Diana Spencer
The then-little-known-and-now-divorced couple David and Elizabeth Emanuel were shocked to receive a phone call from the newly engaged Diana. It has recently been revealed that they designed two gowns, in case one was discovered by the media. Diana's gown now tours regularly as part of the Diana: A Celebration exhibition. See the dress.

2. Sarah Ferguson
When she married Prince Andrew in 1986, Sarah also chose a little-known designer Lindka Cierach to make her dress, which incorporated bows galore and embroidery and beading that included the couple's initials, their crests, their careers and their love--which took a detour to the divorce courts six years later. They reportedly remain great friends. As for Cierach, recent headlines alleged that Catherine Middleton's mother hired her and then fired her for her own mother-of-the-bride look. See the dress.

3. Letizia Ortiz
News reporter and anchor Letizia Ortiz selected Spanish designer Manuel Pertegaz to create her gown when she married the future King of Spain. Her skirt, train, sleeves and collar of her gown were encrusted with symbols of Spanish heraldry and history. See the dress.

4. Crown Princess Victoria
When she wed in the summer of 2010, Crown Princess Victoria wore an elegantly tailored gown by Swedish designer Par Engsheden. Instead of V-neck front like Letizia, Victoria wore a deep v back. Although her sleek dress was very modern she paid tribute to the past by wearing her mother's wedding veil and the 19th-century cameo tiara that has worn by generations of Swedish royal ladies. See the dress.

5. Charlene Wittstock
Although Charlene has not yet married her prince--the wedding is in July 2011--it has been announced that her designer is Giorgio Armani. As the future princess of a principality nestled between France and Italy, she has made an excellent choice with such an iconic fashion house. In fact, she often wears Armani, however, this particular dress itself has yet to be revealed.

6. Grace Kelly
Who else would an Oscar-winning screen actress turn to when she needs the most important ensemble of her career? A Hollywood wardrobe designer, of course. Grace selected Helen Rose of MGM Studios. The ideal dress of the 1950s, it included a full silk taffeta skirt with a button-up antique Valenciennes lace bodice and a wide sash at the waste. See the dress.

7. Queen Elizabeth II
In post-war Britain, the economy was very tough so women sent their clothing ration coupons to their future queen so that she could have a gown suitable for a princess. Created by a favorite royal designer, Sir Norman Hartnell, who drew inspiration from Botticelli for his petite but shapely client. He brought the seed pearls for the dress through customs from the U.S. but controversy later arose when reports circulated that the silk was produced by enemy silkworms. (Actually, it came from friendly Chinese worms.) Hartnell also created her coronation gown six years later. See the dress.

8. Mary Donaldson
To marry the Danish heir, Australian-born Mary selected Danish designer Uffe Frank. See the gown. The skirt of the gown included long panels that were pinned back to reveal 100-year-old Irish lace. The dress also included Chantilly lace from France and her ensemble included a fan that belonged to the groom's Swedish grandmother and a veil that had been worn when British Princess Margaret of Connaught married the Crown Prince of Sweden in 1905, when Danish Princess Anne-Marie married the King of Greece in 1964, when Greek Princess Alexia married her Spanish husband in 1999 and when several other princesses married. It was truly an international affair. See the dress.

9. Princess Margaret
The gorgeous Princess Margaret used the same designer as her sister: Sir Norman Hartnell, but with their varied personalities and more than 12 years between their weddings, their dresses were in no way similar. Where Elizabeth was ethereal and dripping in embellishment, Margaret was clean lines and stylish simplicity, not a single stitch of embroidery from the high v-neck to the wide skirt and short train. The classic look inspired her daughter-in-law's dress three decades later. See Margaret's dress. See Serena Linley's dress.

10. Maxima Zorreguieta
When Argentinian Maxima married the Dutch heir, she opted not to use a designer from either country, choosing instead to use legendary Italian designer Valentino. Highlights of the gown included a high cowl neck, three-quarter sleeves and lace details down the side of the flared skirt matched by lace along the edge of the train. Maxima must have loved the dress because she continues to wear Valentino quite frequently.See the dress.

BONUS: Catherine Middleton

Quiz takers were asked to hazard a guess as to the identity of this top-secret designer. Our responders decided to be more cautious than the media but they mostly agreed that it would likely be "sleek and modern."

Of course we now know that Catherine's dress was designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen. I would certainly classify it as a "sleek and modern" re-imagining of the classic princess gowns of Princess Grace and Princess Margaret. Its sweetheart neckline covered in lace with long lace sleeves may inspire bridal fashions to turn away from the current strapless trends.

Photo by Hugh Burnand. From The British Monarchy on Flickr.

Princess of Wales Anwers

1. How many Princesses of Wales never became queen?

Since King Edward I first gave the title Prince of Wales to his son in the 13th century, there have been 21 Princes of Wales but only 10 princesses because some princes died young while others did not marry until after they became king. Of those 10 Princesses of Wales, three never became queen. Joan of Kent's husband Edward the Black Prince died before his father King Edward III in the 14th century. Augusta of Saxe-Gotha faced the same situation with her husband Frederick Prince of Wales in the 18th century. Most recently, Lady Diana Spencer divorced the current Prince of Wales, thereby ensuring that she would not become queen. It remains to be seen whether the current Princess of Wales, Camilla Shand, who chooses to use the title Duchess of Cornwall, will become queen even if her husband ascends the throne. At the time of their marriage, it was announced that she would use the title Princess Consort.


2. Which Princesses of Wales became queen after the death of the Prince of Wales?
Two other Princesses of Wales also outlived their Prince of Wales, but subsequently married a king. The first was Anne Neville who was 14 when she married Edward Prince of Wales, son of the Lancastrian King Henry VI. When her husband died a few months later and his father was murdered weeks after that, Anne's father the Earl of Warwick rode the changing tide of the Wars of the Roses and quickly married her off the Yorkist King Edward IV's brother Richard Duke of Gloucester. When Edward IV's young sons disappeared in the the Tower of London, Richard became the infamous King Richard III.

In the next century, the 16-year-old Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon was brought over to lend some more legitimacy to the newly instituted House of Tudor by marrying King Henry VII's son Arthur Prince of Wales. Soon after the wedding, bride and groom both became ill; she recovered but he did not. The next eight years in political, emotional and financial turmoil as her former father-in-law tried to figure out how to keep her dowry without necessarily keeping her since her political value dropped after the death of her mother Queen Isabella. Fortunately (or maybe not!), Henry VII died and his second son, the new King Henry VIII came to her rescue and made her his first queen. [Read more about Catherine of Aragon]


3. How many Princesses of Wales have been British?

Half of the Princesses of Wales were born in England: Joan of Kent, Anne Neville, Lady Diana Spencer, Camilla Shand and, less obviously, Princess Mary of Teck. Although technically a Germanic princess, the future Queen Mary was the daughter of a British princess, Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a first cousin of Queen Victoria. All four of the Teck children were born in Kensington Palace and the Teck family was considered part of the British royal family. In fact, when the British royals forsook their German names and titles, the Tecks did too. Queen Mary's two living brothers became the Marquess of Cambridge and the Earl of Athlone.

Even without her English birth, Mary of Teck was technically a British subject under the 1701 Act of Settlement, which granted that right to descendents of Electress Sophia of Hanover. Under this act, Princesses of Wales Caroline of Brunswick and Alexandra of Denmark could also lay claim to British citizenship.

4. How many Princesses of Wales never had children?
All of the Princesses of Wales have had children, although not always with the Prince of Wales. Anne Neville and Catherine of Aragon had children with their later husbands. Joan of Kent and Camilla Shand each had children with earlier husbands; Joan also had a couple with the prince. All of the others had children only with the prince.

5. How many Princesses of Wales were divorced?
Only Lady Diana Spencer was divorced from her Prince of Wales but several others had other marriages legally ended. Camilla Shand is divorced from her first husband, Andrew Parker-Bowles. Joan of Kent had one earlier marriage annulled. At age 12, she secretly married Sir Thomas Holland. About a year later, while he was on Crusade, her family forced her to marry the Earl of Salisbury. When Holland returned, he was stunned to find his wife married to someone else and took his case to the king and the pope. Much to Joan's relief, the pope ordered her to return to her first love and officially annulled the Salisbury marriage. Catherine of Aragon's later marriage to King Henry VIII was annulled against her wishes. Afterward, she was officially styled as the Dowager Princess of Wales as she had been during her earlier widowhood but she never acknowledged the dissolution of her marriage.

One other Princess of Wales was in perpetual danger of being divorced. Caroline of Brunswick's husband absolutely hated her. He launched two separate official investigations into her questionable conduct in order to find enough evidence to justify a divorce. Despite her crude, raucous behavior, his efforts were thwarted. Much to his dismay, she legally became his queen but he did not allow her to be crowned.
____________________

A Note on Mary Tudor: Princess of Wales?
Several respondents included comments about the future Queen Mary I, oldest daughter of Henry VIII. Although he is infamous for his overweeing drive to produce a male heir, in the 1520s, Henry seems to have accepted Mary as his heir, sending her to preside over Ludlow Castle in Wales just as his father had done with Arthur Prince of Wales a generation earlier. Mary was never officially created Princess of Wales, but she was referred to that way. During this period, Henry also explored numerous diplomatic marriage possibilities for her. By the 1530s, he had clearly changed his mind and even declared her a bastard with no royal inheritance rights. Before his death, he reinstated her to line of succession after her young half-brother.