Princess Diana's wedding dress to go on display at Kensington Palace

Princess Diana's wedding dress will go on display this summer at Kensington Palace for the first time since her tragic death in 1997.

The iconic gown will be the centrepiece of an exhibition that explores royal fashion design through the years. The temporary exhibit, called "Royal Style in the Making," will take place in the historic Orangery starting June 3 until January 2022.

Princess Diana's wedding dress, designed by Elizabeth and David Emanuel, is famous for its 25-foot train, the longest in royal history. It was so voluminous that she had trouble fitting it inside the carriage during her Royal Wedding to Prince Charles on July 29, 1981. It arrived in a crumple when she stepped out at St Paul's Cathedral.

The ivory silk taffeta dress has puffed sleeves, a scoop neckline with an embellished collar, stiff net petticoats, and embroidered lace appliques and bows. It also has the Carrickmacross lace which originally belonged to Queen Mary, Prince Charles' great-grandmother, on both front and back panels, and featured 10,000 mother-of-pearl sequins.

The last time Princess Diana's wedding dress went on display at Kensington Palace was in 1995 when she still lived there. As part of her will following her death, the gown was handed to her brother, Earl Spencer, to look after until Prince Harry and Prince William turned 30 years old. It was on display at her ancestral home in Althorp and was also loaned to worldwide exhibits. The brothers eventually included the gown in their private collection.

Matthew Storey, exhibition curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said in a statement published by People that the summer exhibit "will shine a spotlight on some of the greatest talents of British design, whose work has been instrumental in shaping the visual identity of the royal family across the twentieth century."

"We'll be exploring how the partnership between each designer and client worked, and revealing the process behind the creation of a number of the most important couture commissions in royal history," he added and teased that fashion fans will be up for some "real surprises" at the exhibit.

Aside from Princess Diana's wedding dress, other historic fashion pieces will also be displayed at Kensington Palace. This includes the surviving rare toile for the 1937 coronation gown of the Queen Mother created by London-based court designer Madame Handley-Seymour.