We couldn’t be more excited about the temporary exhibition of ‘Royal Style in the Making’ opening at Kensington Palace on 3^rd June 2021.  The exhibition will explore the intimate relationship between fashion designer and royal client, revealing the process behind some of the most important commissions in modern Royal history, and displaying Princess Diana’s wedding dress at Kensington Palace for the first time in 25 years.

With a particular penchant for the style and fashion of Princess Diana, I set myself the challenge of picking 5 of my favourite Diana dresses, that represent different moments in history.

The First Dress, 1981

Image by Joe Haupt @ Flickr, (CC BY-SA 2.0).  Lady Diana Chats With Another Famous Princess, Princess Grace Of Monaco

For the first big public outing with Charles after the engagement announcement, Diana knew she had to choose her dress carefully.  She opted for a low cut, strapless, black dress, which her 19-year-old self thought was ever so chic and sophisticated.  However, Charles that evening, and the papers the next day, were quick to tell her that Royals only wear black when in mourning.  She quickly learnt for herself, that bustier dresses are not the most conservative when the paparazzi are poised ready for her exit from the car, where there was a little more on show than intended.   Later that evening, kind tips on adapting to royal protocol were to arrive from Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly), who joked with Diana that, “things will only get worse.”

Although the Princess later remembered the evening as “horrendous”, Diana the style icon was born.  This image was already a far cry from the shy girl hiding behind her fringe in a blue suit for the engagement interview.  This was a stylish, stunning and sexy young lady that was going to inspire the world.  However, this proved not to be the dress that Elizabeth and David Emanuel were going to be most remembered for….

The Wedding Dress, 1981

Image by Joe Haupt @ Flickr, (CC BY-SA 2.0).  The Wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, Photograph at Buckingham Palace, July 29, 1981

If any dress was to represent the 1980s, it is this one. A dress which would go on to inspire wedding and bridesmaid dresses around the world for the next decade.  Designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, it was a feast of ivory silk taffeta, thousands of tiny sequins and pearls and finished with a 25-foot train, trimmed with sparkling vintage lace.  In fact, the dress was so voluminous, that it needed several practice attempts to get it into the carriage.

To me, this dress personifies the dreams of a 20-year-old young woman that still believes in princes, princesses, castles and happy endings.  As a teenager there were no posters of boybands on her walls, but of Prince Charles himself, her own Prince Charming, waiting to sweep her off her feet.

I’m often asked as a guide why Charles and Diana married in St Paul’s Cathedral, rather than Westminster Abbey, and my age-old joke is that it was the only church large enough to fit her dress.  As they say, if you’re going to make a statement, go big, or go home!

The Travolta Dress, 1985

Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

A midnight blue velvet dress by Victor Edelstein that has become famous for the moment it represents in history, when a 24-year-old princess danced with the king of the dancefloor on the stroke of midnight.  When John Travolta was asked to attend the state dinner at the White House, without a partner, he was unaware that he was being set up by none other than First Lady Nancy Reagan.  As an enthusiastic and classically trained dancer, Diana was delighted to perform a modern foxtrot to Saturday Night Fever, providing one of the finest photo ops of the decade.  John Travolta himself recalls that, “I was awestruck with her.  She led the way, and I thought: well that’s not going to happen!”

The dress was purchased by Historic Royal Palaces in 2019 for £264,000, joining the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, and was later displayed to the public in Kensington Palace, 20 years after it left the palace for the first time.

The Revenge Dress, 1994

Image by Sara Gambarelli @ Flickr, (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).  Princess Diana. Why black is considered elegant?

One of the most famous dresses of the 20^th century, the ‘Revenge Dress’ is famed for being worn by Diana to a Vanity Fair party the evening that Prince Charles confessed to his adultery on national television.  The dress had been made 3 years prior by Christina Stambolian, but Diana had never worn it as she thought it was too daring, with its form-fitting shape, off the shoulder sleeves and high leg.  Her former stylist Anna Harvey says that she wanted to look “a million dollars” that night, and she certainly did – the world was blown away once again by her beauty and style.  Fate played a hand, as Diana was planning to wear a Valentino number that night, however her dress choice had been leaked to the papers, prompting the last-minute change.  Some things are just meant to be.

The Little Blue Dress, 1997

Free of “Her Royal Highness” shackles, Diana was free to explore her own fashion preferences, with royal protocol on colour, length and cleavage blown away in the wind.  This dress represents Diana’s style in her later life, her own choice.  The shape highlights her toned silhouette, the length shows off her dancers’ legs, the neckline announces that this is a woman that is comfortable in her own skin, and the colour brings out the sparkle of the blue in her eyes.

Diana loved this dress so much, that one of her favourite designers, Jaques Azagury, who had been designing for Diana for 10 years, gifted her a longer length version in black Chantilly Lace for her 36^th birthday, which she wore that evening to a Chanel-sponsored event at the Tate, sadly just two months before her untimely death in Paris.

Crazy about Royal Fashion?

Are you as crazy about royal fashion as we are?  Do you dote on Diana too?  authentiCity get you behind the scenes, not only with a visit to the Kensington Palace exhibition, but with an exclusive before hours atelier tour and chat with one of Diana’s favourite designers.