撞衫！英新王妃婚紗被指“抄襲”

The Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress is certain to inspire a raft of imitations but in mainland Europe there have been claims that the gown was itself copied from another recent royal wedding.

The Duchess’s Alexander McQueen dress, designed by Sarah Burton, bears a striking resemblance to the outfit worn by the actress Isabella Orsini when she married Belgian Prince Edouard de Ligne two years ago. Ms Orsini’s dress was designed by Gerald Watelet, the Belgian designer.

Newspapers and magazines across Europe have dubbed the Duchess “copycat Kate” due to the similarity between her dress and that of Ms Orsini, who is the goddaughter of Silvio Berlusconi.

Both dresses have a v-neck line with a lace bodice that was both long sleeved and high-necked.

Both women are pretty slim brunettes who complemented their gowns with a tiara that held their veil in place.

Ms Orsini, 36, told the Italian magazine Novella 2000: “As soon as the Duchess of Cambridge went out to go to church, I thought her dress was a copy of mine. It means Kate Middleton has good taste.”

The wedding of Prince Edouard and his bride was a far More low-key affair however with only a few hundred people turning out onto the streets to watch them. It is thought that up to 2 billion people watched the royal wedding when it took place last month on television and online.

Both bridal gowns pay homage to an earlier dress worn by Grace Kelly on her wedding day to Prince Rainer of Monaco in 1956.

Fevered speculation over the identity of Miss Middleton's dress designer finally ended with confirmation that Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen, had won the coveted commission. The ivory satin dress had a nipped in waist, 9ft train and long-sleeved bodice of handmade lace by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. The team of workers had to wash their hands every 30 minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine, and the needles were renewed every three hours to ensure they remained sharp and clean.

The lace design incorporated rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock — the emblems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. French Chantilly lace, combined with English Cluny lace, was the only fabric from foreign shores.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are currently on honeymoon in the Seychelles where they are staying on a private island.英國新王妃劍橋公爵夫人的婚紗勢必引發一陣模仿潮。但歐洲大陸的一些媒體指出這款婚紗本身就抄襲了最近另一場皇室婚禮的婚紗。

新王妃的這件亞歷山大•麥昆品牌婚紗由莎拉•伯頓設計，和女演員伊莎貝拉•奧爾西尼兩年前嫁給比利時王子愛德華•德•裏涅時所穿的婚紗簡直如出一轍。奧爾西尼的婚紗由比利時設計師傑拉德•瓦特雷設計。

由於兩件嫁衣高度相似，歐洲各媒體紛紛給凱特取綽號爲“模仿者凱特”。奧爾西尼是意大利總理西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼的教女。

兩件婚紗均採用V領鏤空上衣、長袖高領設計。

兩位新娘都很苗條、皮膚略黑，還都用王冠挽住了面紗。

36歲的奧爾西尼接受意大利雜誌《Novella 2000》採訪時說：“劍橋公爵夫人去教堂前一亮相，我就覺得她的婚紗抄襲了我的。這說明凱特•米德爾頓很有品位。”

愛德華王子的婚禮低調得多，僅有幾百人沿街觀看。而據稱全球有多達20億人通過電視和網絡觀看了上月舉行的威廉王子大婚。

兩件婚紗都效仿了格蕾絲•凱利1956年嫁給摩納哥王子雷尼爾三世時所穿的婚紗。

米德爾頓的婚紗由亞歷山大•麥昆創意總監莎拉•伯頓設計，這也終於平息了大家對婚紗設計師人選的激烈討論。這款乳白色的緞紋婚紗配有9英尺長的掐腰式拖裙，長袖上衣的蕾絲都是由漢普頓宮皇家刺繡學院的工作人員手工縫製。製作者每半小時就要洗一次手，以免弄髒蕾絲和針線，每3小時還要換一次針，以保證針的尖銳和清潔。

蕾絲圖案上有玫瑰、薊、水仙花和三葉草（英格蘭、蘇格蘭、威爾士和北愛爾蘭的象徵）。和英國的克倫尼花邊交織在一起的法國尚蒂伊花邊是唯一的外國裝飾。

威廉和凱特目前正在塞舌爾的一座私人小島上度蜜月。