Boy, was I wrong!

On Friday I spent the entire day in front of the TV watching the wedding of their Royal Highness's, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. That would be Prince William and Catherine Middleton before the Queen granted them new titles. It was beautiful and romantic. It was pageantry at it's best. The music was amazing. The hats were eye popping (some of them you could NOT have paid me to wear - and certainly not on television in front of 2 billion people. What were these women thinking?)And the dress...it was just perfect. The veil was just perfect. All very understated and classic.So, enough gushing about the romantic event of the year.Last week, before the wedding, I was trying to contact Gill Holdsworth at the Royal School of Needlework to ask her some questions about the course I'm taking this summer. I emailed. I telephoned. I left messages. I called the general number. I called everyone on the list on the web site. No one answered. I wondered 'Have they all been kidnapped? Did they take the whole week of the wedding off?' After all, Monday was a holiday after Easter and Friday was a holiday for the wedding, so maybe they all decided to stay home and have a whole week off.Boy, was I WRONG! Yesterday afternoon I got a reply via email from Gill. Here is an excerpt:"Thanks for your email and phone calls and I'm so sorry about the delay in replying. As you probably know we have been involved with the royal wedding dress and although I don't stitch, there has been a lot of additional organization to do.As I write the world/s press are in the Studio interviewing some of the stitchers but the only information we are able to release is that which is already on our website. The royals are determined that the overall designing and making of the dress will be shrouded in mystery for the statutory thirty years.We are immensely proud to have been a part of the creation of such a stunning dress and to have helped Sarah Burton and the Duchess of Cambridge achieve their vision. We are even prouder of the secret kept. I have to say that many of our tutors did not know about the project and the staff at Hampton Court Palace were astonished yesterday when the truth was revealed. We really only could tell those who needed to be involved and could not even hint about the assignment to anyone else – even our immediate family members were kept in the dark."Wow!  To read the press release, go to the Royal School of Needlework web site.Embroiderers from nine different countries worked on the dress. And were they careful. Here's what the RSN had to say about the process of stitching such an important garment:“Essential to the RSN's work is its attention to detail. Hands were washed every 30 minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine; needles were renewed every 3 hours and only short lengths of thread were used, each no longer that 30 cm. Also, to maintain an even appearance, no securing knots were used and it was important that the back of the work looked as neat as the front, another RSN hallmark.”I am so pleased to be able to take a course from people who are this committed to their art.For more details and brief interviews with the embroiderers, go to the BBC's web site where you will find both an article and a short video clip about the embroiderers and how they, too, were kept in the dark about the designer of the dress.On holiday?!? Boy, was I WRONG!