Woman who embroidered Queen Elizabeth's dress received flowers from the royal wedding

An arrangement from the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
(Image credit: Danny Lawson - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

When she was 19, Pauline Clayton helped embroider the 15-foot-train on Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress, and now, at 89, she's linked to another royal union.

Flowers from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on Saturday were donated to different charities and hospitals. A bouquet was sent to St. Joseph's Hospice in Hackney, where Clayton currently resides. "With my royal connections it's such a lovely coincidence to be at St. Joseph's and receive those wedding flowers," she said. "They are beautiful and very special."

In 1947, Clayton was working for Norman Hartnell, the designer behind Queen Elizabeth's wedding gown. Along with three other women, she embroidered the train, and earned "49-and-a-half hours overtime," she said. Clayton worked for Hartnell for several years, and went on to make other outfits for the royal family, including dresses for the Queen Mother.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.