Couple face bit of a tartan conundrum

Published on Sunday 24 July 2011 18:51

IF THE bride and groom decide to add a touch of tartan to their nuptials, or perhaps incorporate an element into their pre-wedding party on board Britannia, they could use designs depicting their surnames.

One choice could be the modern Phillips tartan in a fine blue and purple check, designed for a private commission in 2002 and available for the use of people called Phillips worldwide. Or there is the Tindall tartan, with its colour scheme of blue, green and red, which was designed in 1998.

Blair Urquhart, director of House of Tartan, the company responsible for the Phillips design, said: "People are actually very precious about which tartan they choose to wear for a wedding.

"The use of tartans has changed quite a bit over the past 20 to 30 years. Previously, people identified with the clan to which their name belonged and would use that particular tartan. However, more recently we've seen the use of family tartans for weddings as a statement of identity.

"The Phillips tartan is a modern design, and the use of blues and purples, like the ones featured in this cloth, are now very popular."

Mr Urquhart, who is a published author on the history of tartans and the traditional dress of Scottish clans, added: "New designs have become very popular - if you don't have a family tartan, you can have one created."

The Phillips tartan is one of thousands listed on the Scottish Register of Tartans.

The register was established by the Scottish Parliament to act as an official list of tartans, and was launched online in 2009.

Zara has strong links to Scotland. Her mother, the Princess Royal, wed her second husband, Tim Lawrence, at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, in December 1992, as the Church of England did not allow divorcees to marry in church.

The bride-to-be also has fond memories of Britannia, having joined the Queen aboard the yacht for cruises during her summer holidays from Gordonstoun school in Moray.