Helen's joy at being part of royal secret

Like millions of other people Helen McCook hung out the bunting and flags and settled down with her family to watch the Royal Wedding.

However, her heart was pounding as the clock ticked closer to 11am, when Kate Middleton was expected to leave the Goring Hotel to make her way to Westminster Abbey.

As the bride emerged, Helen was finally able to reveal her secret to her family and friends — that she had helped create that famous wedding dress.

The design of Kate Middleton's wedding dress was such a well-kept secret that even those who had worked on the gown couldn't reveal their involvement in it to anyone until 11am on the day of the wedding.

Helen worked with a team of embroiderers at the Royal School of Needlework to make the lace which went on the dress, Kate's wedding shoes and veil, as well as Pippa Middleton's dress.

Designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, the dress cost £40,000 and took hundreds of hours of work to complete.

Helen, 33, said: "On the day of the wedding I had put out the bunting, just like thousands of other people, and then settled down with my mum and dad, Tom and Carol, my sister Sarah and her husband as well as my aunt and gran.

"When Kate came out of the hotel at 11 o'clock I said to everyone 'what do you think of Kate's wedding dress' and they all said they loved it — and that was when I told them I had helped make it.

"It was such an amazing moment for me to finally reveal that I had been involved in the making of that elegant dress — I thought I would burst with pride."

Helen, who lives near Sutton Coldfield, and who went to Bishop Vesey School, trained at the Royal School of Needlework and still goes back to help train and assess.

"When you train with the RSN you are told there will be times when you have to keep a job top secret," she said.

"You know that if you get a phone call, and they don't explain why they want you to go in to see them, then it is one of those times.

"So, after getting the phone call I went down to Hampton Court Palace, where the RSN is based and then heard what I would be working on there."

Kate's dress was a long-sleeved, lace gown. The lace on the bride's dress detailed a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock, and was hand-made by the team at RSN.

Helen says they approached the job with the same dedication and attention to detail that they would for any other commission, which has included making a dress for Kate Moss and hangings for Blenheim Palace.

To keep the dress in perfect condition, workers washed their hands every 30 minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine.

Also the needles were renewed every three hours, to keep them sharp and clean and so they didn't create friction against the surface of the lace or silk net.

"Stitches were kept small so they would be virtually invisible to the eye and were spaced at approximately 2-3mm apart to make it very secure, and it was all done by hand," says Helen."I also did a lot of work on the shoes and worked on Pippa Middleton's dress, which had lace around the neck and sleeves."

"Our work set the world talking on a day which seemed like something from a fairytale — and when William told her she looked beautiful, it was the icing on the cake for everyone who had been involved in her outfit."