Yahoo Finance Resplendent in traditional Blues and Royals: how Prince Harry's wedding uniform took 100 hours to handcraft
Prince Harry walks down the aisle in a traditional military uniform of a frockcoat of the Blues and Royals. The ensemble denotes his affinity with and affection for the armed forces, despite retiring from active service in 2015. The outfit consists of a frockcoat in doeskin depicting insignias and braiding that is particular to his regiment, the styles of which reveal that he has been promoted to the rank of major by the Queen.
The outfit was handcrafted by traditional military tailors Dege & Skinner on Savile Row, who first created the uniform when Prince Harry began active service. The badge on his left chest is the Pilots’ Wings, a nod to his time serving in the Army Air Corps flying Apache helicopters. Speaking exclusively to the Telegraph, managing director William Skinner revealed that the hand crafted uniform took over 100 hours of work, over 65,000 stitches and it took one worker one week just to figurate the lace on the sleeves. His brother Prince William however had one complaint; he was spotted telling Harry that his trousers were "too tight".
The unique braiding running down the front is black mohair and and is particular to the household cavalry and the Life Guards, with invisible hooks fastening down the front instead of buttons. Dege & Skinner create the outfit as the request of the Prince, and also created miniature versions for the page boys.
The Prince follows a long line of his ancestors by wearing a full military dress uniform on his big day. The Queen appointed Prince William the honorary rank of Colonel of the 1st battalion of Irish Guards a few months prior to his wedding, allowing him to wear the vivid scarlet Irish Guards Mounted Officers uniform on his day.
Prince Charles donned a Royal Navy Number One ceremonial uniform with a sword, while Harry’s grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh also showed his support for the navy in which he spend his formative years in a naval uniform.
Prince Harry has throughout his military career been a proud supporter of the armed forces, and holds titles across various regiments. Normally, military uniform is not allowed to be worn with a beard, but as the hirsute Prince Harry hold an honorary title, there are no rules against it.
There has been talk about whether he would don morning dress, as he’s been fond of doing at friend’s weddings in the past, due to the fact that he is no longer a service officer in the army and that he is rumoured to have wanted the affair to be a less decorous affair than that of his brother. However, the two princes have had a long relationship with Dege & Skinner; their first official portrait of the brothers in military dress from 2010 depicts them in the house's attire. "We created their uniforms when they first joined the military, and we're incredibly proud to take part in this moment in British history", says Skinner.
"We made their mess kit (dinner dress) and their Number Ones uniforms initially and it's an honour to continue our relationship with the royal household", said Skinner, whose Savile Row company has been making military outfits for over a century.
That the Prince wore ribbons instead of an aiguillette is significant; ribbons are garnered from work he has done rather than titles given to him in an honorary capacity.
However, the now Duke of Sussex's decision to don the full regalia of Blues and Royals attire adds a suitable dose of ceremony to this most British of royal weddings, and a happy reminder of his time serving his country.
