28 AWW.COM.AUAUGUST 2017
THIS PAGE: ALAMY. OPPOSITE: PATRICK DEMARCHELIER INC.There has been a flurry of Diana-
style initiatives in recent times. With
his brother, William, and sister-in-law
Catherine, Harry has created Heads
Together to raise awareness and
money for mental health services and
to encourage people to talk in a way
the Princes themselves felt unable to
do after their mother’s death.
By way of explanation, another
close friend of Diana, Rosa Monckton,
talking about mental health, says, “It's
a huge issue with the youth of today
[they hide it away] – but it was in the
public domain that Diana had these
problems. To have overcome them
in the way she did while being in the
public eye was extraordinary.”
Rosa’s daughter, Domenica, who
has Down syndrome, is Diana’s
goddaughter. In March this year,
Rosa confirmed that in a moving
act of friendship, Diana had offered,
in 1994, to bury her friend’s stillborn
baby, Natalia, in the gardens of
Kensington Palace – yet another
tantalising insight into the Princess’
complex nature.
Discovering her style
No recollection of Diana would be
complete without talk of her clothes.
She led fashion, followed fashion, was
a fashion victim – occasionally – and
in the end settled for unshowy simple
lines which emphasised the serious
role she undertook for herself in
her final years, helping to make
her a leading fashion icon of the
20th century.
Her life with clothes is rivetingly
captured in an exhibition at her old
home, Kensington Palace, which will
continue through until 2019.Diana:
Her Fashion Storyhas already more
than doubled visitor numbers to the
ancient palace and the exhibition,
according to its curator Eleri Lynn,
shows the Princess “intelligently
communicating through her clothes.
This is a story many women around
the world can relate to”.
Centre stage at Kensington Palace
is the midnight-blue gown – arguably
her most famous – in which Diana
danced with John Travolta at the
White House in 1985. Today, its
creator, Victor Edelstein, recalls his
first encounter with the Princess just
after she had given birth to Prince
William, at Kensington Palace, “She
was so beautiful and sweet, and she
seemed so vulnerable. I walked down
the stairs afterwards and I was almost
on air. She had that effect.”
Swiftly, Victor became one of the
most powerful weapons in Diana’s
armoury and she returned often tohis atelier. “At the last fitting for the
Travolta dress, Diana was so pleased
she said, ‘I must show this to my
husband’,” he recalls. “Off she went
and came back with the Prince of
Wales. It was very funny because he
was obviously going out somewhere- he was covered in ribbons and
decorations, but he was very nice
about the dress.”
Reportedly, the Prince liked it less
when Diana danced with theGrease
star for half an hour.
Many visitors who make the
pilgrimage to Kensington Palace also
take in the Diana, Princess of Wales,
Memorial Fountain in nearby Hyde
Park. Situated close to the Serpentine
Gallery – where the Princess made one
of her most spectacular appearances,
in 1994, wearing the iconic figure-
hugging Christina Stambolian black
silk dress – the fountain brilliantly
reflects her more spiritual side, with
water gushing in circular motion
through blocks of granite, the piece
specifically designed to reflect her
love of children.
Heavily criticised after its unveiling
by the Queen in July 2004, the fountain
offers a soothing memory of Diana
and its popularity has slowly grown.
So much so that The Royal Parks,
which administers it, revealed to»
ABOVE: Diana shone in a deep blue velvet Victor Edelstein gown as she danced with John Travolta at a White House Gala Dinner in 1985.
OPPOSITE: The Princess in a photograph by her reportedly favourite snapper, Patrick Demarchelier, taken in 1990.