Plum Sykes Talks to Piers Morgan on Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding Dress
By Plum Sykes, Vogue magazine
Somehow, this week, I have found myself transformed from Voguette to royal-wedding dress correspondent. According to the British press, Catherine Middleton might have once seen a picture of my Alexander McQueen wedding dress and might have, apparently, decided to ask Sarah Burton, the new chief designer at McQueen, to create her dress for this historic wedding. As a result, I have become some kind of expert on top-secret royal wedding dresses-even though I, like the rest of the world, have not got any inside information about who really is making the Dress.
It's surreal, but on Tuesday of this week, I found myself in the late Princess Margaret's apartments in Kensington Palace discussing Catherine's and Diana's style with Good Morning America presenter Robin Roberts and British fashion designer Amanda Wakeley. Wakeley designed the green suit in which Diana formally resigned from public life, and she also designed the chic navy suit Middleton wore for her last public engagement before the wedding. The suit was from Wakeley's 2007 collection, and the fact that this soon-to-be-royal had chosen an old favorite from her wardrobe that looked amazing on her has, I think, endeared her to every woman in the world. Suddenly one thinks, My God, it's actually not necessary to be caught in the I-must-wear-something-new/now/hot trap if Catherine Middleton doesn't need to. We all chatted on-air about Catherine Middleton's incredible hair, legs, and high-street buys while about 40 ABC crew members looked on. It was a big production for about 60 seconds of TV.
A few days before that, Katie Nicholl,Daily Mail journalist and author of The Making of a Royal Romance, had come to interview me at home about the difference between Catherine's and Diana's style. Nicholl was wearing a beautiful dress that looked exactly like it was designed by Roland Mouret but, she told me, had actually cost her about $80 from Dorothy Perkins [a British mass brand]. We chatted about the fact that even though Diana in the 1980s was the most-photographed woman in the world, and seemed even then to be under unbearable media pressure, Catherine will be under even more daily scrutiny due to the Internet.
Today I am set to meet up with Piers Morgan and appear on his CNN show. One day before the wedding, the security is so tight that the address to which I would be delivered for the interview could not even be revealed until the last minute. At ten o'clock last night a nice girl named Samantha called me for the "pre-interview," which is when you go over all the questions that the interviewer may want to ask you. When Samantha said to me that American women don't understand the custom of wearing hats to weddings, I realized that I was not exactly sure where this tradition arose from and would need the help of fashion historian extraordinaire Hamish Bowles. I e-mailed him, and he sent me back one line: "Respect in church."
I managed to get to Piers Morgan's studio this afternoon after a wearisome hour-long car ride through the crowded London streets. There were lots of families strolling along in the sunshine holding Union Jacks, and along the Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, there were tents where people had already started camping out to get a front-row spot along the route.
The media village at Buckingham Palace is, apparently, larger than that which was set up for Barack Obama's inauguration. Huge marquees were full of CNN, CBS, and NBC staff, tapping away at computers, swigging cans of Coke, writing out interview questions. I arrived at the CNN tent and had my makeup done-it was the first time I've ever had airbrush foundation done, which looks flawless. I was then whizzed across the village to the CNN studio. En route, I saw Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters strolling around in ballet flats, and various other female anchors holding their high heels in their hands. At the studio, Piers was having his forehead dabbed with a powder puff by a makeup artist. This happens about every three seconds if you are Piers Morgan, or someone brings you a glass of water without you asking for it.
Piers looked slick in a lightweight suit. Great for under those burning hot lights. He is flirtatious and funny, and started by asking me who was designing Catherine's dress. I said I didn't know but that I was certain it would have a very long train and that Catherine would be wearing a tiara. The world would be so disappointed if these things were omitted from a royal wedding. We then discussed Catherine's wonderful style, and Piers asked me if Catherine and William were "the biggest couple in the world." I had to agree with him. I finished by adding that Prince William was now even bigger than Piers Morgan, which Mr. Morgan took with a graceful giggle.
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