Queen Camilla picks Diana’s favourite designer for coronation gown after they became ‘firm friends’
THE Queen Consort has picked Princess Diana’s favourite fashion designer to make her coronation gown.
Bruce Oldfield, 72, is working in secret for 75-year-old Camilla, after they became “firm friends”.
She will wear his creation when she is crowned next to King Charles in Westminster Abbey on May 6.
Bruce has remained tight-lipped, answering queries with: “What can I say?”
But an insider told The Sun: “Camilla has a very close friendship with Bruce spanning many years so in many ways it is the natural and obvious choice.
“Camilla trusts Bruce because he has really delivered on dresses for so many important occasions recently for her.”
Bruce designed some of the most iconic dresses worn by Princess Diana when they became close pals in the 1980s.
Since then he has dressed A-listers including Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Taylor Swift as well as helping redesign of McDonald’s uniforms.
Bruce was born in a broken home to an Irish mother and Jamaican father. He spent the first six months of his life at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital with gastroenteritis.
He was fostered by a Co Durham seamstress and developed a love of fashion and clothing — even making outfits for his sister’s Sindy doll.
But, described as “uncontrollable”, he was placed in a Barnardo’s home when he was 11 and stayed there for four years.
After passing his exam to attend Ripon Grammar School he became a teacher in Sheffield before taking a fashion course at Central Saint Martins, London.
He began making couture clothes in 1978 and opened his first shop in 1984.
A chance meeting with Princess Di led to a ten-year friendship. He her as the “perfect client”.
He said: “When I look back, it was relentless for her. We did dress her up like she was going to a wedding every day.”
He was awarded an OBE in 1990 and has been
Camilla’s go-to designer for a decade.
She won plaudits for narrow, pale turquoise gown with a lace he made for her for a tour of Sri Lanka in 2013.
She wore a dazzling silver number at the State Opening of Parliament in 2015. Other outfits included ones for Royal Ascot in 2021 and the James Bond premiere No Time To Die two years ago.
He said: “I gave Diana her glamour and Camilla her confidence.”
Earlier this month, it was revealed Camilla has chosen to “upcycle” the crown worn by King George V’s wife Mary for the 1911 coronation, with the addition of diamonds used by the late Queen.
Charles, 74, is tipped to abandon centuries of tradition and wears a military uniform instead of britches and silk stockings.
Bruce Oldfield was approached by The Sun but did not want to comment. Buckingham Palace also declined to comment.