Princess Diana's Wedding Shoes Featured a Secret, Hidden Message
Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of Princess Diana and Prince Charles's world-famous royal wedding. The wedding had many unforgettable aspects, including Diana's David and Elizabeth Emanuel-designed ivory taffeta gown. However, one of the most personal pieces of the wedding was hidden underneath the dress's 25-foot train. Diana left a special message on the bottom of her white heels.
Diana's silk wedding shoes were intricately designed, embroidered with 542 sequins and 132 pearls. A heart-shaped appliqué adorned the toe of the heels, on theme with the wedding. However, Diana hid a sweet note on the bottom of the shoes' arches—the letters C and D, for Charles and Diana, were painted under each heel with a heart between them, surrounded by a floral design.
Cobbler Clive Shilton, who made the shoes, told the Daily Mail that it was important to Diana that her footwear had a low heel and included this special detail. "[Diana] was a very shy, sweet, smiley-eyed young girl. Her main concern was that she wouldn't appear taller than Prince Charles, and because she was very tall—5'10"—the shoes would have to have a low heel," he said. "No one even saw the bottom of the shoes, but it was important to us that they looked fantastic. You would have seen much more of them if she'd tripped!"
The original plan was to make the shoes from the same fabric as the wedding dress; however, the material was too fine and would have crumbled. Instead, Shilton opted for a heavier silk satin and made the soles from a soft suede so that Diana would not slip. It took him and his entire team six months to make the special shoes.
In 2011, Chilton sold a spare pair of the heels at auction for over $50,000. Last year, a photo copy of the wedding shoe design, press information relating to the production of the slippers, and two postcards with a sample of the lace all went up for auction as well, from a vendor who previously worked for Shilton.
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