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.

英国新王妃剑桥公爵夫人的婚纱势必引发一阵模仿潮，但欧洲大陆的一些媒体指出这款婚纱本身就抄袭了最近另一场皇室婚礼的婚纱。

stunned¹ to notice the likeness² between her own gown, from her wedding two years ago, and the Sarah Burton dress worn by the Duchess of Cambridge last month." src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/allimg/110523/1_110523073521_1.jpg" width="450" height="342" />
Italian-born Isabella Orsini (left) was stunned to notice the likeness between her own gown, from her wedding two years ago, and the Sarah Burton dress worn by the Duchess of Cambridge last month.
The Duchess’s Alexander McQueen dress, designed by Sarah Burton, bears a striking resemblance to the outfit³（机构，用具） 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 dubbed⁴ the Duchess “copycat（盲目的模仿者） 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（浅黑肤色的女人） who complemented⁵ their gowns with a tiara（女士冕状头饰） 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 homage⁶ to an earlier dress worn by Grace Kelly on her wedding day to Prince Rainer of Monaco in 1956.

Fevered speculation⁷ over the identity of Miss Middleton's dress designer finally ended with confirmation⁸ that Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen, had won the coveted⁹（垂涎的） 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 pristine¹⁰, and the needles were renewed every three hours to ensure they remained sharp and clean.

The lace design incorporated rose, thistle, daffodil（水仙花） and shamrock（三叶草） — the emblems¹¹ of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. French Chantilly lace, combined with English Cluny lace, was the only fabric¹² from foreign shores.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are currently on honeymoon¹³ in the Seychelles where they are staying on a private island.