UK NEWS
KATE MIDDLETON'S FATHER BUYS HIS SUIT FOR THE BIG DAY
Sunday December 5,2010
THE WORLD will be watching father of the bride Michael Middleton give away his daughter Kate, and the pressure is on to look his best. But sartorial elegance comes at a price… and judging from his glum face, he had just taken a peek at the price tag. With 145 days to go until Kate’s much-anticipated wedding to Prince William, Mr Middleton, 61, has begun his personal preparations, visiting gentleman’s outfitters Gieves & Hawkes to be measured for his morning dress.
A bespoke Gieves morning suit costs upwards of £3,500 and takes up to three months to complete, with three or four fittings for the customer.
When Earl Spencer escorted his daughter Lady Diana down the aisle at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981, he described it as “the most nervous but proud I’ve ever been”. Soon it will be the turn of Leeds-born Mr Middleton to make the historic walk with Kate along the nave of Westminster Abbey. For the royal wedding on April 29 he is having a tailcoat in black, unlike Diana’s father, who wore grey.
With his wife Carole and their son James, Mr Middleton called at Gieves & Hawkes’ Sloane Square branch, a 10-minute walk from the £780,000 flat he bought in 2002 for his three children to use as a London base.
Also joining the shopping expedition was James’s black cocker spaniel, Otto, who spends most weekends at the family home in the Berkshire village of Bucklebury.
The choice of Gieves & Hawkes for the bride’s father is appropriate. Founded in 1771 as a military supplier, the outfitter has three royal warrants and made the naval uniform worn by Prince Charles for his wedding to Diana
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