In 1891, the bride's mother, the Duchess of Teck, had declared that her daughter's wedding dress and those of her bridesmaids would be manufactured entirely in Britain. This was likely because the Duchess was president of the Ladies' National Silk Association. Upon the announcement of the engagement of Princess May to Prince George, Duke of York in spring 1893, Arthur Silver, was approached to design the gown. Silver had designed the dress for Princess May’s intended wedding to George's older brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, in 1892. This ‘Lily of the Valley’ creation had been made public just days before the Duke of Clarence's untimely death in January 1892 but had to be completely abandoned. The design chosen for the York-Teck wedding was ‘The May Silks’; the dress would feature embroidery of the emblems of a rose, shamrock and thistle, and be trimmed with the traditional orange blossom and true lovers knots. Silver, renowned for his Art Nouveau designs, was also said to be much influenced by Japanese art in his designing. In March 1893, the Duchess and Princess visited the Warner & Sons’ factory at Hollybush Gardens in Spitalfields, London and commissioned them to make the finest white silk with silver-thread by Albert Parchment in time for the July wedding.
Design
The dress itself was put together by Linton and Curtis of Albemarle Street. The front of the dress was made of white satin, featuring three small flounces old Honiton lace which had been used on the wedding dress of her mother. The bodice, cut at the throat, was long and pointed and was made of Silver's white and silver brocade, also featuring a small amount of her mother's Honiton lace near the top and on the upper part of the sleeve. The rich satin manteau de cour fell from her shoulders. The train was long and plain and the veil of her mother's which she wore was also made of Honiton lace, fastened by diamond pins given as a gift from Queen Victoria. Matching the orange blossom elements to the dress, small wreaths were placed all the way around the bust and on the hair. Princess Mary completed the wedding outfit with a diamond tiara from Queen Victoria; diamond rivière necklace from the Prince and Princess of Wales and diamond earrings and anchor brooch, a wedding gift from Prince George. Out of all of the wedding toilette, the veil was reportedly the only piece that was not worn again after the wedding. The official painters of the royal wedding were Heinrich von Angeli, Laurits Tuxen, and Luke Fildes.
