Princess Diana Will Forever Be a Style Icon
Princess Diana’s relevance has never faded since her untimely death in 1997 at age 36. But that’s been especially true ever since the late royal’s son, Prince Harry, and his husband, Meghan Markle, announced the name of their second child: Lilibet Diana, in reference to the pair who appear to be Harry’s favorite family members. (Lilibet, as Queen Elizabeth II is known to her immediate family, has notably escaped the couple’s recent candid criticism of the monarchy.) That Harry would pay tribute his doting mother is no surprise; apart from a core group of royals, the late princess has always been almost universally adored. And for some, that’s in part because of her personal style. In lieu of outdated gowns, she opted for an ever-evolving, of-the-moment wardrobe of ‘80s silhouettes, statement dresses, and bold-colored suits. Ahead of what would have been her 60th birthday, revisit some of Diana’s most memorable looks, here.
August, 1971
It was only in her teens that Diana Spencer, seen here as a 10-year-old on vacation in West Sussex, cut her hair short.In 1971, at age 10, Diana Spencer let her hair down while on holiday in West Sussex.
December, 1980
What used to be a simple commute to work at a nursery quickly became a daily
May, 1981
Princess Diana kept it casual on her fateful trip to the family’s Balmoral Estate.
June, 1981
Just a month or so before becoming the Princess of Wales, Princess Diana went with a lilac color scheme at a polo match in Windsor.
June, 1981
All eyes were on Diana, in a sparkly red dress and blush, at the London premiere of the Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
July, 1981
Princess Diana, then 20, married a then-32-year-old Charles in a wedding dress by David and Elizabeth Emmanuel, paired with the Spencer family tiara.
April, 1982
Then seven months pregnant with Prince William, Princess Diana brought along a binocular to take in a horse race in Liverpool.
June, 1983
A polo meeting in Windsor over the summer marked perhaps the only time that the couple matched.
August, 1983
Princess Diana embraced the ‘80s and her hair’s curly for a day out at a polo match.
November, 1984
Princess Diana went with an entirely new looks—long hair and a bowtie—on a visit to a London charity.
October, 1985
Princess Diana showed no signs of having just flown across the continent when arriving to Melbourne, Australia.
November, 1986
Princess Diana kept it breezy at a picnic in the desert while touring Saudi Arabia, wearing the first of seemingly countless Catherine Walker outfits over the next e
August, 1987
This monochrome look was among those Princess Diana packed for a quick holiday in Majorca, Spain.
November, 1987
Princess Diana had an extravagant take on formalwear while on a night out at the Munich Opera House.
February, 1988
Between her blue eyeliner and one-shoulder dress, Princess Diana turned heads at a dinner with the King of Thailand while touring Bangkok.
March, 1989
Princess Diana experimented with color blocking in a Catherine Walker dress while touring the United Arab Emirates.
September, 1989
Princess Diana let her locks fly while dropping off her son Harry on his first day at London’s Wetherby School, alongside his older brother William.
July, 1991
Princess Diana channeled the ‘80s with feathered hair, puffed shoulders, and statement earrings at a tennis game in Nottingham.
April, 1993
Princess Diana could have been mistaken for a commoner while joining her sons Harry and William at an amusement park.
June, 1994
Shortly after Prince Charles admitted to adultery on public television, Princess Diana attended a dinner at London’s Serpentine Gallery in a Christina Stambolian design now known as the iconic “revenge dress.”
November, 1995
Princess Diana infuriated the tabloids by repeatedly wearing the same cotton-polyester Virgin Atlantic sweatshirt to the gym. Little did she know, it recently ended up selling for more than $50,000.
November, 1995
Shortly before her historically controversial—and, it later turned out, highly suspect—bombshell interview with the BBC’s Martin Bashir, Princess Diana went high-fashion with an orange two-piece by Versace and quilted handbag by Dior.
December, 1995
Across the pond in New York, Princess Diana experimented with a voluminous blowout at the 1995 United Cerebral Palsy Awards gala.
June, 1997
Again in Catherine Walker, Princess Diana made a departure from her ‘80s style in a sleeveless dress for a charitable auction of her dresses at Christie’s.
This article was originally published on
