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7 most expensive royal wedding dresses in order of price: Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Princess Eugenie, more

The royal family spares no expense on wedding dresses for their brides-to-be, but we hadn't quite fathomed exactly how much. According to Brides, the average couple designates approximately 10% of their wedding budget to the bridal gown, but the royals are a very big exception. Here are the most expensive royal wedding dresses in order of price, from Kate Middleton to Meghan Markle.

SEE: 12 hilarious royal wedding moments caught on camera

WATCH: The most iconic royal wedding dress unveilings of all time

7. The Queen

the queen wedding dress z
the queen wedding dress z

Though Queen Elizabeth's £30,000 wedding dress comes in at the bottom of the charts, it was certainly a jaw-dropping amount to spend when she married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947, at a time when the world had barely begun to recover from the war and clothing was still rationed (the Queen even collected coupons to pay for her dress).

SEE: Inside the Queen and Prince Philip's jaw-dropping London home

It was created by Norman Hartnell using Chinese silk, and shaped with a high neckline, tailored bodice and a 15-foot long train. Pearl and diamante-encrusted star flowers, roses, jasmine blossoms and wheat adorned the bodice and the skirt.

6. Sarah Ferguson

sarah-ferguson-wedding-dress
sarah-ferguson-wedding-dress

Sarah Ferguson opted for a dress made from ivory duchesse satin for her wedding to Prince Andrew in 1986, believed to have cost £35,000. Lindka Cierach created the style, with precise beadwork incorporating various symbols including anchors and waves representing Prince Andrew's sailing background.

MORE: Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew's home is truly incredible

Her 17-foot long train was embroidered with the initials A and S in silver beads. Sarah spoke out about her dress in her 1997 memoir My Story, describing it as, "an exquisite creation I'd lost twenty-six pounds to fit into. Lindka was a genius; I knew she could make the most flattering gown ever, and she had. It was amazingly boned, like a corset."

5. Meghan Markle

meghan-markle-wedding-dress
meghan-markle-wedding-dress

Meghan Markle's wedding dress is estimated to have cost £110,000, and the Duchess of Sussex paid for it herself. The timeless gown was the handiwork of Clare Waight Keller, of Parisian fashion house Givenchy, and the level of intricacy is surely reflective of its price.

The fashion house spent 3,900 hours embroidering Meghan's 16-feet long veil with the national flowers of each of the 53 commonwealth countries including real crops of wheat, while the dress was created using double-bonded silk cady cushioned by an underskirt of triple silk organza.

SEE: Best photos from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding

4. Princess Diana

princess diana wedding dress z
princess diana wedding dress z

Princess Diana's wedding dress for her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981 was valued at £151,000 in 2019. Welsh designer David Emanuel and his then-wife Elizabeth made the design from ivory silk and embellished with pearls, sequins and antique lace. It was topped off with a 25-foot train – the longest in royal history.

MORE: 3 stunning wedding videos from Princess Diana and Prince Charles' big day

3. Princess Eugenie

princess eugenie wedding dress z
princess eugenie wedding dress z

When Princess Eugenie tied the knot with Jack Brooksbank in 2018, she wore a £200,000 design by British designer Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos. She worked closely with the duo to create a number of meaningful motifs including a Thistle for Scotland as a reference to the couple's love for Balmoral, a Shamrock for Ireland as a nod to the bride's heritage and the York Rose and ivy representing the couple's home.

She also opted for a shape that would display a scar she had from scoliosis surgery on her back.

WATCH: Princess Eugenie's wedding dress goes on display

2. Kate Middleton

kate middleton wedding dress z
kate middleton wedding dress z

In at number two, Kate Middleton's wedding dress for her wedding to Prince William in 2011 cost her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton (who footed the bill), £250,000. It was made in collaboration with Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, with a Victorian bodice, a train stretching almost nine-feet long with 58 gazar and organza covered buttons on the back and rouleau loops, and handmade lace created by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace.

SEE: The Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress-maker discusses creating the gown

1. Queen Letizia of Spain

queen-letizia-wedding-dress
queen-letizia-wedding-dress

Queen Letizia of Spain tops the charts with a £6million wedding dress that she wore to her wedding with King Felipe in 2004. It was designed by royal couturier Manuel Pertegaz, featuring a four and a half metre-long train, long sleeves, a high-standing collar and embroidery woven into the silk using gold thread. (Real, of course.) She accessorised with a diamond tiara, gifted to her from her mother-in-law Queen Sofia after she wore it on her own wedding day to King Juan Carlos in 1962.

SEE: Photos from Queen Letizia and King Felipe's wedding as it happened

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