Princess Diana: A style icon remembered

Princess Diana and John Travolta dance at the White House. Credit: Anwar
Princess Diana and John Travolta dance at the White House. Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

To mark the 20th anniversary of the death of the Princess of Wales, Kensington Palace is hosting an exhibition of some of her most memorable outfits in a bid to tell Diana’s story through the clothes she wore.

In her later years Diana, Princess of Wales, was celebrated as a style icon. The most photographed woman in the world, she knew how to dress for the occasion and her outfits withstood perhaps the most intense press scrutiny of anyone’s in history.

Diana’s style was reflective of her grace and charm. The late fashion designer, Oscar de la Renta, said of her: “She had tremendous star quality. When she walked into
a room there wasn’t anyone who didn’t notice.”

But the woman once labelled ‘Shy Di’ by the media wasn’t always so confident in front of an audience and as the exhibition Diana: Her Fashion Story, which is running at her former home of Kensington Palace, shows Diana’s fashion sense evolved over time. 

Click through our gallery to see some of the outfits that defined the princess’s style.