It’s hard to believe but the designers of that great 1980s meringue, Princess Diana’s wedding dress, have been telling The Daily Telegraph how they would tackle Kate Middleton’s.

Back in 1981, David and Elizabeth Emanuel, fresh out of art college, were taken up by Diana to design her wedding spectacular, now probably the world’s most famous wedding dress. Twenty-five years later, are they putting themselves in the frame for Princess Catherine’s?

“I’d have to meet her first, I’d want to find out what kind of person she is,” says Elizabeth, now divorced from the more famous David, who is a regular feature on American television.

He says: “I’ve never met Kate, but I’ve seen pictures of her and she’s devastatingly beautiful, tall and slim. She seems more worldly than Diana, and her personal style is quite pared down, but it’s one thing to wear a simple day dress to a public function, quite another to walk down the vast aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral and make a statement. [Or Westminster Abbey, of course.]

“Diana’s dress was of its time, full and romantic. Kate might suit something slim and elegant, but with lots of beautiful, understated embroidery. It couldn’t be too simple, there would have to be an element of theatricality.”

So now we know. I’ll bet they don’t get the job though. William and Kate will be steering well clear of all memories of that ill-starred day.

Breaking news from the Glasgow Daily Record : Prince William may be marrying a Swede. Here’s the story :

A new film, The Queen, reveals the Duke of Edinburgh has an unusual nickname for his wife — Cabbage.

There’s a scene in which Elizabeth, played by Helen Mirren, is seen in bed at Balmoral. As Philip (James Cromwell) removes his dressing gown he says: “Move over, Cabbage.”

The nickname is vouched for by celebrated Royal biographer Robert Lacey, who said: “Yes, I’ve heard that is how he will sometimes refer to her.”

Things are starting to make sense here. It may explain why Prince Charles has cauliflower ears, why Andrew hooked up with a carrot-top, why Anne has a chip on her shoulder, and why Edward turns beetroot in the company of women.

Memo to Kate Middleton: sorry to disappoint you, but we fear William is destined to marry a swede.

Zara Phillips on Toytown.

Well, it was close at the end, but Zara Phillips, riding the ever-reliable Toytown, has taken the World Three-Day Eventing title at the World Equestrian Games in Germany. Great Britain came second in the team event to a very strong German team.

All the more remarkable then that Zara should triumph individually, the more so because she is still mourning the death of her close friend, Sherelle Duke at a horse trials in Hampshire last Sunday.

Despite having one fence down, her nearest rival, Germany’s Bettina Hoy, dropped three fences and accumulated time faults to kill off her challenge.

The Queen was said to have watched on television at Balmoral and will surely be opening a jeroboam of bubbly to toast her granddaughter’s famous victory.

Princess Anne will be musing on the fact that her status as the Royal Family’s premier equestrian has now been taken over by her daughter — I doubt she will be displeased at that.

A beaming Mike Tindall, Zara’s boyfriend, was among the first to congratulate his own Master of Horse, but she seemed too overcome to notice anyone.

If Zara can add the Olympic crown to her World and European titles, what a spectacular achievment that would be. Today’s events showed that she is more than capable of that.

Now the Royal Anecdotes team is off to raise a glass of our own to Zara and her magnificent triumph in Aachen.

As I write, the Queen’s graddaughter Zara Phillips is close to becoming World Champion Three-Day Eventer at the World Equestrian Games in Germany.

Zara, already European Champion, is in the lead with only the showjumping event to follow. A clear round would give her the title outright, but any faults might hand it to German, Bettina Hoy, poised right behind her.

Zara powered from fifth to first place with a brilliant clear round in the cross-country section yesterday.

Despite her close friend Sherelle Duke’s death at the Brockenhurst Horse Trials last Sunday, Zara showed great courage in the testing second-day event, outclassing the rest of the field.

Royal Anecdotes and all of England wish plucky Zara the best of British luck.

Coming up : The result.