Meghan Markle Wedding Dress Commonwealth Flowers Meaning

The Queen's Most Important Dress Ever

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Meghan's nod to the Commonwealth also paid tribute to the most special dress her new grandmother-in-law ever wore. Queen of the World highlights how Elizabeth II was determined to show the flowers of all the Commonwealth countries on her coronation gown. The original design only included the rose, shamrock, thistle, and leek, emblems of the UK countries. But the Queen told dressmakers to include the blooms of all the handful of nations then in the Commonwealth. The finished product has been described as the most important British dress of the 20th century.

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Elizabeth II Ruled on This Design

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The Queen turned to royal fashion guru Norman Hartnell for her coronation gown. He'd been dressing the royals for years, but for this historic dress, he took as many orders as he gave. Elizabeth II went through nine designs before choosing the eighth as her favourite but made her designer add lots of colour to those Commonwealth and British flowers before he actually began making it.

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A Colour-Filled Tribute to the Commonwealth

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The final flowers were embroidered in gold and silver thread as well as bright colours including green, pink, and yellow. The final emblems chosen were a maple leaf for Canada, silver fern for New Zealand, and Australian wattle. There was also the lotus flower for both India and Sri Lanka, a protea for South Africa, and three separate emblems for Pakistan — wheat, cotton and jute. All those pretty patterns got so heavy, the Queen needed an extra skirt under her dress to support the weight.

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Pretty Petals Caught on a Silk Breeze

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There was no such problem for Meghan, who used the floral emblems of all 53 countries now in the Commonwealth on her tulle veil. The blooms on her special outfit were picked out in silk and organza, making them lighter than light, and took over 500 hours to create. The Duchess of Sussex gets up close and personal with them in Queen of the World, explaining that some have been sewn to be raised from the surface, adding "it was really special because when it caught the light, you could see it with such fine detail." We are as much in love with it as Meghan clearly is.

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How Meghan's Dream Veil Came to Life

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Just like the Queen with her coronation dress, Meghan had a big say in how her wedding veil would look. The new duchess talks about the meetings she had with designer Clare Waight Keller about how the idea of using the Commonwealth flowers could "come to life" as they debated whether to use the country flower or state flower. Meghan confides it was her designer's choice to use wildflowers with no one bloom repeated anywhere round the veil.

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A Wedding Outfit That Looks to the Future

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The Duchess of Sussex makes no secret of how important it was to include the Commonwealth flowers on her veil, calling it "key" to her wedding look. Meghan explains, "with Harry's role as Youth Ambassador for the Commonwealth, it was so important for us to have the spirit of inclusivity in our wedding." And she wants everyone who goes to see it, when it goes on show at Windsor Castle in October, to try and find their country's flower. Well, any excuse to stand and gaze at the duchess's dreamy wedding veil.

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