Why Carole Middleton’s 41-year-old wedding gown made for a very modern bridal look for her new daughter-in law

We hold on to our wedding gowns for all kinds of reasons: nostalgia being the most common, but also because many of us hope that, if we have daughters, they might want to wear it one day too.

It’s likely Carole Middleton was hoping for the same when she packed away the gown she wore to marry husband Michael in 1980, and with two daughters who share her looks and approach to personal style, it wouldn’t have been such a long shot.

But in the end, it was her son James’s bride, Alizée Thevenet, who chose to wear Carole’s dress for her wedding earlier this month, in a touching demonstration of the bond between the two women.

"It fitted me perfectly and was exactly what I wanted,” the financial analyst, 32, told Hello! magazine. “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."

Alizée is not the first high-profile bride to have worn a borrowed gown recently. Princess Beatrice, another pandemic bride, borrowed a 1960s Norman Hartnell gown from her grandmother, the Queen, when she married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020. And when Carrie Symonds married Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May, she rented a Christos Costarellos from My Wardrobe HQ for £45.

Alizée’s - or rather, Carole’s - dress was more in line with the bohemian aesthetic of the Seventies than the OTT Eighties (the puff-sleeved taffeta gown worn by Diana Spencer just a year later was more typical of the period). It featured a Bardot neckline with embroidery and lace detailing, a choice perfect for the low-key ceremony and beachside reception attended by family, close friends and the couple’s beloved dogs in the South of France.

Alizée completed her bridal look with half-up braided hair and a veil. Later, at the reception, she was pictured dancing in Converse trainers - the ultimate cool-girl bridal look.

It was a wedding that couldn’t have been further from the grander affairs of James’s sisters: Kate married Prince William at Westminster Abbey in 2011 in a bespoke gown by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen with a nine-foot train and a Cartier tiara borrowed from the Queen. In turn, Pippa married James Matthews at St Mark’s church in Englefield, Berkshire in 2017 wearing a bespoke Giles Deacon gown and a pearl-decorated veil by legendary milliner Stephen Jones.

James and Alizée’s day was more intimate and laidback, and all the more meaningful for the couple as they had been forced to cancel their wedding twice due to the pandemic. Alizée’s father died several months ago too, so the family would have been feeling his loss acutely.

It is easy to imagine that the Middletons, a close family, would have lent their support to Alizée during the past challenging year. In turn, Alizée has been at James’ side throughout his battle with depression, which he spoke about in the Telegraph in 2019. Perhaps it is this mutual support that is the foundation of Carole’s bond with her new daughter-in-law.

Wedding gowns are imbued with memory and emotion, and to share such a treasured garment is a rare gesture. For Alizée, the chance to borrow Carole’s dress would likely have been a token of affection, welcoming her as the new Mrs Middleton.