The splendor of Valentino’s royal brides

The legendary
Italian fashion designer, Valentino Garavani, has died at the age
of 93. Many royal brides have turned to Valentino to design an
iconic wedding gown for their special day, and in honour of his
legacy, we’re looking at three royal brides who wore
Valentino.

Queen Máxima of the
Netherlands

When Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti married the future king of the
Netherlands on 2 February 2002, she chose a sleek
silk Mikado wedding gown from Valentino to cement her place in
the history books.

Speculation that the future Dutch queen had turned to Valentino
reached a fever pitch when she and then-Queen Beatrix were
photographed in Rome visiting the designer’s atelier. Indeed,
months later, when Máxima stepped out in Amsterdam in this chic
wedding gown—with the Dutch Star tiara atop her head—a new star in
the royal family was born.

Queen Máxima’s wedding gown featured a cowl neckline,
three-quarter length sleeves, and an empire bodice that flowed into
a fuller, silk-paneled skirt. A five-metre train trailed behind the
royal bride, as did a hand-embroidered silk tulle veil with floral
embroidery that was also created by Valentino.

Princess Madeleine of
Sweden

Princess Madeleine would later laugh about the circumstances that
led to the creation of her Valentino wedding dress for her June
2013 nuptials, recalling how the Italian designer’s pugs would sit
on the fabric and frustrate the seamstresses during a fitting. But
that doesn’t compare to how she was still being sewn into her
wedding dress as the church bells were ringing and her father was
waiting to escort her up the aisle to Christopher O’Neill!

“I felt like Cinderella, because the dress is 1,40 metres
long and the Italian seamstresses were running around like small
mice and sewed up the dress to make it fit,” she told SVT for
their programme on royal wedding dresses, ‘Kungliga
brudklänningar.’ She’d lost weight in all the running around
leading up to the wedding and it suddenly didn’t fit anymore.

Princess Madeleine also revealed that Valentino had mentioned to
her that he should design her wedding gown, and she felt
it was a natural choice. Her wedding gown was pleated silk organza
made with ivory Chantilly lace. Short sleeves and a fitted bodice
led down to a wide skirt culminating in a four-metre train; and a
silk organza veil anchored the Modern Fringe tiara atop her
head.

Crown Princess Marie-Chantal
of Greece

In 1995, Valentino was commissioned for his
first royal wedding gown. Worn by British-American heiress
Marie-Chantal Miller, the gown reportedly cost $225,000 and took
four months with 25 people working on it to complete.

At her July nuptials in London, Marie-Chantal arrived in a
pearl-encrusted ivory silk wedding gown designed to open like a
tulip at the front, and also carried a 4.5 metre Chantilly lace
train.

The high neck and sleeves were created from lace with
pearl-encrusted floral appliqués that resembled flowers on a
lattice and flowed into a fitted bodice and further into a full
skirt, which was also embroidered with floral lace. In total, 12
different types of lace were used on Marie-Chantal’s wedding
gown.

Her veil, anchoring the Antique Corsage tiara lent to her by her
mother-in-law, Queen Anne-Marie, was also Chantilly lace and
featured floral and butterfly lace appliqués.

A Royal Legacy

Valentino created everyday looks for many other royal women.
Several guests at Marie-Chantal’s wedding wore Valentino. Tatiana
Santo Domingo and Beatrice Borromeo both wore dresses designed by
Maison Valentino’s creative directors, though not by Valentino
himself. Clotidle of Savoy and Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg also
wore Valentino on their wedding days.

Speaking to Point de Vue (as shared by Hola! in
2016), Valentino himself said: “Maxima, Sibilla, Clotilde
[of Savoy], Marie-Chantal, Madeleine… They were all magnificent. I
have never put a foot wrong.”

“His unique style and innate elegance will remain
forever,” Maison Valentino, the label he founded in 1960,
posted on their social media accounts.