How Queen Elizabeth Made This ‘Thrifty’ Move To Get Her Wedding Gown

Queen Elizabeth is believed to be rich since she’s a member of the royal family. But she was actually quite frugal, especially during the post-wartime rationing.

According to Market Watch, the Queen didn’t have the money to buy a beautiful wedding gown for her nuptials with Prince Philip. Rather, she saved up her coupons and used it to buy the materials she needed to make her wedding gown.

The Queen also received approximately 200 additional coupons from her relatives and friends, but using her coupons for her wedding dress was still quite a thrifty thing to do.

And even though coupons were used to create the dress, it still looked stunning on Her Majesty when she tied the knot with the Duke of Edinburgh on Nov. 20, 1947. The Queen’s gown was made from ivory silk, and it also featured a 13-foot train.

The wedding gown was also adorned with crystals and 10,000 seed pearls imported from the United States. The monarch and Prince Philip wed at Westminster Abbey and approximately 2,000 guests were invited.

Prior to the royal couple’s wedding, it was revealed that Prince Philip and his family also sacrificed a lot to give the Queen what she deserved. Since the Duke was only relying on his income and he was dating the then-heir to the British throne, his mother, Princess Alice, helped him find the best engagement ring.

Princess Alice gave her son the go signal to use the diamonds in her tiara for the Queen’s engagement ring. After accepting his mom’s offer, the dad of four teamed up with jewelers Philip Antrobus Ltd. On July 10, 1947, he asked for the Queen’s hand in marriage and she said yes.

In the documentary “A Very Royal Wedding,” experts revealed that the three-carat center gem was very modest for a Princess. But it also possible that the Duke didn’t want to splurge so much on the jewelry because the United Kingdom had just come out of World War II.