Why I'm still in love with my PRINCESS DI WEDDING DRESS

The elaborate gown of Diana, Princess of Wales, inspired a generation of brides. Tess Stimson tells us why her beloved frock still means so much

- TESS STIMSON

As I entered the wedding-dress boutique with my daughter, Lily, I made a beeline straight for the back of the shop, where all the most expensive, extravagant creations were kept.

But Lily dragged me over to a quiet corner, its rails crammed with plain white dresses.

‘No offence, Mum, but I hate pouffy dresses like the one you wore on your wedding day,’ she said. I tried not to get upset. After all, Lily was only seven, and we were shopping for a dress for her First Communion, not her wedding.

But she’s nearly 19 now and, if anything, she’s even more adamant that if and when she gets married, it’ll be in something simple and classic. No frills, no bows, not even a discreet ruffle around the hem.

Secretly, I’ve always hoped she might want to borrow my wedding dress one day, even though I wore it for my first marriage, which ended in divorce. There’s no denying it was a showstopper of a dress, with huge puff sleeves and a magnificent train of hand-made cream lace. It had so many petticoats, I needed two bridesmaids to lift the skirts when I wanted to go to the loo.

I wore it when I married my first husband, CNN correspondent Brent Sadler, in July 1993, aged just 23. Like every other bride in the 80s and early 90s, my gown was inspired by the dress of the then Lady Diana Spencer – to become Diana, Princess of Wales – as she got out of the carriage on the steps of St Paul’s to marry Prince Charles in July 1981.