It was the pre wedding hitch that should never happen to a royal bride- Sophie Rhys Jones' fashion advisers realised her £250 shoes did not go with her £5,000 dress

On the eve of her big day. Miss Rhys Jone's delicate bridal shoes were laying in pieces on the floor of a lesser known shoemaker in Barnet, The drama started yesterday when Samantha Shaw, the year old private designer commissioned to make Sophie's wedding dress, to her horror realised that the peach bridal shoes looked all wrong with the gown. The evening standard can reveal that Sophie, unlike Princess Diana will not wear white but a "very Light, coffee coloured" dress for her marriage to Prince Edward in St Georges Chapel, Windsor.

In a desperate attempt to correct the fashion faux pas, the shoes were biked by courier to royal wedding veteran Baboucha shoes in Barnet to be re-covered in a matching fabric to the dress.

Arty Achilleous, who runs the business with wife Lilia said: "the shoes were made by a different company. They were made in the wrong fabric and didn't match.

Mrs Achilleous said: "Samantha Shaw came at 1pm yesterday. She sounded desperate. She said the shoes didn't look right with the outfit. We are frantically trying to get them ready and back to the dressmakers. "The heels need to come off and the soles need to come off and the sides need to come off. We literally have to take the shoes apart and cover every section with the new fabric, which is not a traditional fabric for wedding shoes. It's a matt, stretchy, jersey. I would describe it as a very light coffee cream or an antique ivory.

"It's in the same colour as the dress but I'm not sure if the actual fabric is the same." Mr Achilleous said the size five shoes are plain court shoes with a sweetheart toe, scalloped edges and slender, three inch, flute bottom heels.

Mr Achilleous, who was involved in making the bridesmaid shoes for the weddings of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of York. Said: "I have always been the bridesmaid and never the bride until now."