Kate Middleton Cried After Wedding Dress Designer Reveal: Expert

Catherine Middleton arrives to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England

(Image credit: Getty/Pascal Le Segretain)

last updated 17 February 2022

Brides want their weddings to be perfect, as they damn well should.

In 2011, Catherine Middleton may have been marrying into the Royal Family, but she was still a bride first and foremost—and, as such, she wanted her vision for the day to be realized.

Unfortunately for her, with intense media scrutiny came equally intense indiscretion, and a major secret she had wanted to keep for her big day came tumbling into the pages of Britain's most famed broadsheet newspaper. Her wedding dress designer, Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, was revealed to the world prematurely.

"Behind the scenes, I think that caused tears at the Palace because Kate had done everything she could to keep the wedding dress a secret," royal expert Katie Nicholls said in the documentary Secrets of the Royal Dressmakers (via the Mirror).

According to the Mirror, The Sunday Times broke the news about two months before the royal nuptials. "[Burton] was selected by Middleton, who is making increasing efforts to develop her own style, on grounds of her quirky elegance, discretion and low profile," the article read at the time.

"A fashion source said that the dress will be a combination of Middleton's own design ideas and Burton's deep knowledge and understanding of high fashion.

"Middleton had hoped to keep Burton's name quiet until the wedding."

But the public knowing who designed the long-awaited dress took precisely nothing away from the dress reveal itself as the soon-to-be Duchess of Cambridge made her way to Westminster Abbey IRL and on our TV screens. More than a decade later, who can't picture that gorgeous lacy gown?

rince William takes the hand of his bride Catherine Middleton, now to be known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, followed by Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton as they walk down the aisle inside Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.