SOME said it veered on the safe side of boring – but I believe McQueen designer Sarah Burton created a wedding dress perfect for a princess.

Kate has never slavishly followed trends. She is more girl-next-door than Lady GaGa. And the dress ­reflected her personality. It was ­understated and harked back to the era of ­elegance when actress Grace Kelly wed her own Prince, Rainier of Monaco in 1956.

Sarah kept the same themes for Kate's evening gown. The cut and the silhouette were ­impeccable, and Kate looked fabulous. It was trademark McQueen.

Many feared an association with the brand. It was started in the 1990s by the East End upstart Lee Alexander McQueen, who regularly conjured up wild and crazy outfits.

But they need not have worried. Sarah who took the helm after McQueen's suicide last year, worked with Kate to capture a look that married tradition and modernity. Sarah has brought a lighter touch to the label, and nobody can ­dispute that money couldn't buy the kind of exposure the brand has received since ­Friday.

The obvious next move will be to put her name on the label: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. Some people have suggested she could follow in the footsteps of Stella McCartney, who left the Paris fashion house of Chloe to assert her independence with her own label. But Sarah is too intertwined with the McQueen brand – his designs speak now through her.

Whatever route she decides to follow in the long term, however, she can be confident she has the fashion world at her feet.