Kate Middleton wore on her wedding day to Prince William a dress that looked like the one worn by Isabella Orsini. Isabella had a very similar dress when she married the Belgian Prince, Edouard de Ligne. At their wedding, two years ago, Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, was the couple’s godfather.
The wedding dress worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Middleton, created by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen’s house, was praised for its refinement. But another European princess wore a similar dress on her wedding and was surprised to see the creation on William’s wedding day.
Isabella Orsini’s dress was created by the Belgian stylist Gerald Watelet, but it has elements similar to that designed by Sarah Burton, from the lace on the bodice and sleeves, to the general shape. The similarities are reinforced by the fact that both women are thin, brunette, beautiful, and although the hair style was different, they both wore a diamond tiara.
The similarities were so obvious that newspapers and magazines in Germany, Belgium, France and Italy have written that Catherine’s dress was a copy and titles were “Copy-Kate” and “Copycat Kate”, alluding to the title used by British media “Waity Katie”, on those times when Kate was waiting for William’s marriage proposal.
The actress Isabella Orsini, 36 years old, told the Italian magazine “Novella 2000”: “As soon as I saw the Duchess of Cambridge going to church, I thought her dress is a copy of my wedding dress. This means she has style”.
Even if the dress’ line was similar, the lace in Kate Middleton’s dress differs from that in Isabella Orisini’s dress. The lace dress models applied to the Kate’s dress describe the four floral emblems of the United Kingdom: the rose, thistle, daffodil, and clover.
However, the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Middleton, and Isabella Orsini were both inspired from the wedding dress worn by the actress Grace Kelly, who became Princess Grace of Monaco when she married Prince of Monaco in 1956. She also had a lace bodice, with wide skirt, and a veil held by a tiara with diamonds.