Princess Diana ‘Caused Such a Sensation’ with One of Her Boldest Fashion Statements Ever Because of a Sunburn

Mar. 15, 2025

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One ofPrincess Diana’s most memorable fashion moments stemmed, from all places, a sunburn.

As the late Princess of Wales’ hairstylist Richard Dalton wrote in his bookIt’s All About the Hair: My Decade with Diana, Princess of Wales, he was in Melbourne, Australia with Diana on Oct. 31, 1985 — 39 years ago! — when Diana told him that she “had a bit of a sunburn around her neck from being out in the hot Australian sun all day,” Dalton wrote. (Diana was on tour Down Under with her husband, then-Prince Charles, who coincidentally just wrapped up atour of Australia and SamoawithQueen Camilla.)

Diana had planned on wearing an emerald and diamond necklace that once belonged to Queen Mary and was a wedding gift to Diana from her mother-in-lawQueen Elizabethto a gala dinner dance at the Southern Cross Hotel that night — a piece that “took my breath away,” Dalton wrote. After hearing about her sunburn, the veteran hairstylist had another idea for how to wear the choker.

“This was a totally spontaneous moment where I thought, ‘What should we do for fun,’ ” Dalton wrote. He added, “I said to Diana, ‘Let’s try something different. Why don’t we stick some emeralds in your hair?’ ”

When it came to dressing Diana, Emanuel said she had “No feedback from the palace, nothing, no protocol. I don’t think they expected such a reaction. I think they underestimated the effect of Diana.”

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Catherine, Princess of Wales attends The Earthshot Prize 2022 at MGM Music Hall at Fenway on Dec. 2, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts.Karwai Tang/WireImage

Princess Diana wore the emerald choker — originally a gift to Queen Mary from the Ladies of India in 1911 — many times from 1981 until her death on Aug. 31, 1997, but it hadn’t been seen since her death untilKate Middletonwore it to the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in Boston in 2022 — 25 years later. Like her late mother-in-law in Australia in 1985, Kate paired the choker with a bright green dress.

“I love that necklace,” Dalton wrote of the statement piece he repurposed nearly four decades ago. “We caused such a sensation that night.”

source: people.com