The 1 Thing Princess Diana Was Never Seen Wearing In Public
Princess Diana was a fashion icon and today, more than two decades after her death, many of her style choices still inspire women around the world.
The Princess of Wales could pull off almost anything from formal ball gowns to corporate dress suits to a casual street style. She also paired her outfits with some of the best accessories like matching fascinators and beautiful diamond tiaras, but a lot of her fans aren’t aware that there was something she was never photographed wearing. Here’s what the People’s Princess never wore in public.
What Diana never wore and why
When it comes to her footwear we know Diana wore heels and pumps for many occasions but she also wore flats often, however, she never wore open-toed shoes or sandals.
While doing research for her book, Diana: The Secrets of Her Style, author Diana Clehane noted that the princess had never been photographed wearing any kind of peep-toe shoes or sandals.
So was her decision not to wear them based on a dress-code protocol?
According to royal etiquette expert William Hanson, open-toed shoes and sandals are viewed as too casual for working royals to wear, especially when attending important engagements.
“Open-toed shoes are considered informal footwear and inappropriate for formal occasions,” Hanson told Harper’s Bazaar.
Some of Diana’s favorite brands to wear on her feet were Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo. Clehane interviewed the latter designer for her book about the princess.
Choo relayed stories about how Diana made private appointments with him and he would take cases of shoes to her apartment at Kensington Palace.
“She was never fussy and never complained. She always paid her bill on time and was very easy to deal with,” Choo said, adding, “She liked classic styles. She never wore sandals because she did not like them and she knew the queen didn’t either… She was always very respectful of her.”
Another shoe style Queen Elizabeth is not a fan of
It’s not just open-toed shoes and sandals, there is another style that Queen Elizabeth II cannot stand to see on the feet of royal women and that is wedges.
“The queen isn’t a fan of wedged shoes,” a source told Vanity Fair. “She really doesn’t like them and it’s well known among the women in the family.”
Some believe the queen’s distaste for wedges is because “they remind her of austerity and rationing during the war. One thing that was not rationed was cork, so people used it to make their own shoes, which had to be a wedge shape because the cork was too soft to make a separate sole and heel.”
Despite Her Majesty’s disapproval, the popular footwear has been worn a few times by Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle. However, neither of the duchesses have worn them in the queen’s presence.
Read more: The Real Reason Princess Diana Wore Two Watches at a Time on Her Wrist
