A Fairytale Ranking: The 10 Most Beautiful Royal Wedding Dresses

Royal weddings are always like something out of a fairy tale. And, of course, stunning wedding dresses are a must. From Kate to Charlène and from Diana to Victoria—here are the 10 most beautiful gowns of all time.

On July 29, 1981, Princess Diana left St. Paul’s Cathedral as the wife of Prince Charles; her gown, designed by Elizabeth Emanuel, drew everyone’s attention with its 7.62-meter-long train. More than 750 million people worldwide watched the ceremony on television, making the dress a milestone in bridal fashion. To this day, that appearance is considered the benchmark against which royal wedding dresses are measured.

For Princess Kate’s wedding to Prince William in 2011, Sarah Burton designed a lace dress with a V-neck that put Alexander McQueen in the global spotlight. After the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the Duchess of Cambridge caused an overnight sensation and sparked a global demand for similar lace sleeves. To this day, her appearance remains one of the most-copied bridal moments in royal history.

A few minutes after their wedding ceremony in 2018, Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry stepped out in front of St. George’s Chapel; she was wearing a simple Givenchy dress designed by Clare Waight Keller. The understated design was a deliberate departure from her opulent predecessors and was celebrated worldwide as a statement of modern minimalism. Simply beautiful!

Long before she ascended to the British throne, Queen Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, wearing a gown elaborately embroidered with pearls and crystals and featuring a floral train. The gown set fashion standards for generations of British brides.

For Princess Charlène’s wedding to Prince Albert II in July 2011, Giorgio Armani designed an off-the-shoulder gown with floral pearl embroidery and a long train. Her appearance in front of the Prince’s Palace in Monaco sparked international comparisons to classic Hollywood gowns. This intricately crafted dress is considered one of the most expensive wedding gowns ever worn at a royal wedding.

A crowning highlight was Princess Sofia’s wedding to Prince Carl Philip of Sweden in 2015 in front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm, where a lady-in-waiting carried the long train of her lace gown. The former reality TV contestant transformed into a bona fide princess under the watchful eyes of the Royal Guard. The lavish setting underscored the ceremonial significance of this union between commoner and royalty.

Crown Princess Victoria married her former fitness trainer, Daniel Westling, in 2010, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in ivory white with a long train. The tiara from the Swedish royal collection added extra splendor to the ceremony at Storkyrkan. Here, too, the union between the heir to the throne and a commoner became a topic of conversation.

Just five months after Meghan’s appearance, Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank in October 2018, wearing a Peter Pilotto dress with an eye-catching collar. Deliberately designed to be backless, the dress revealed her scoliosis scar, sparking a discussion about self-confidence within royal conventions. That moment in front of St. George’s Chapel proved that tradition and personal history can come together.

Former television journalist Letizia Ortiz married Crown Prince Felipe in 2004 in an ivory-colored silk dress with gold-embroidered details and a high collar. As the first commoner to marry into the Spanish royal family, the ceremony at the Almudena Cathedral attracted international attention. Her dress remains one of the most striking symbols of modern Spanish royal history.