The touching story behind Alizée Middleton's wedding dress
Kate Middleton's brother James Middleton tied the know with his fiancée Alizée Thevenet in Bormes-les-Mimosas, in the South of France last week.
The ceremony was largely held under wraps, and the reception took place at the bride's family house in the village. We do know the Cambridges attended, though no photos have been released.
That is until now. Pictures of the nuptials feature in this week's Hello! magazine, and we can finally see Alizée's gorgeous wedding dress in full.
The simple off-the-shoulder gown features pretty lace inserts on the bodice as well as a flowing skirt. And it turns out the dress has a very special meaning, since it actually belonged to her new mother-in-law, Carole Middleton. In fact, it was this exact dress that Carole wore on her own wedding day in 1980.
She told Hello! that she tried it on at her in-laws during lockdown, after the pandemic threw their plans into disarray. 'My something borrowed was in fact my dress from my mother in law Carole who last wore it 41 years ago on her wedding day in June, 1980,' she said.
'While talking about dresses with Carole and sharing ideas during lockdown for inspiration, I tried on her wedding dress and fell in love with it. It fitted me perfectly and was exactly what I wanted. It always troubled me that wedding dresses are only worn once so it was amazing to give such a beautiful dress a second lease of life,' she added.
Something old, borrowed and incredibly sentimental.
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Penny Goldstone is the Contributing Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK. She writes about catwalk trends and the latest high street and Instagram sartorial must-haves. She also helms the Women Who Win franchise.
She has worked in fashion for over 10 years, contributing to publications such as Cosmopolitan, Red, Good Housekeeping, and Stylist.