How Prince Charles used Lady Di's love of fashion to embarrass her in public
A new book reveals that the heir to the throne of England was jealous of the attention generated by his wife, whose outfits broke the mold and made history in British royalty
Princess Diana reveled in fashion in a way that no royal had before. But her husband, Prince Charles, used his keen interest in designer clothes to publicly disparage her, according to a new book, HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style (HRH is short for "His Royal Highness": So Many Ideas About the royal style), which went on sale Tuesday.
"The attention Diana received was surprising at first to the royal family, and then a source of resentment," said Elizabeth Holmes, author of the publication, to People magazine. “For Carlos, you can tell from his public comments, fashion is one of the things he tried to use against him. He used Diana's interest in fashion to paint her as superficial or frivolous.
“Knowing that and knowing that his clothes were used against him, it was really sad for me,” added Holmes, who spent more than 10 years as a business and fashion journalist for The Wall Street Journal, and earned a large number of followers on her Instagram account in which she explores real fashion.
After interviewing a number of fashion experts and designers, some of whom have worked closely with the royal family, Holmes expanded his analysis of the "power" of royal fashion to write his book, where there is no shortage of analysis of the styles of the royal family. Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan Markle.
While Holmes revels in all royal fashion, he claimed that Diana of Wales' outfits are some of his favorites. The mother of princes Harry and William was not afraid to embrace trends, or show her emotions through clothing, Holmes explained. “What I came to really understand and appreciate was the way she delighted in fashion and brought emotion into the equation,” Holmes said. "She had very different phases in her dress and it related to the tumultuous personal life she was experiencing," he said.
Diana was just 20 years old when she married the 32-year-old Prince of Wales in 1981 after just six dates. From the beginning, their relationship was complicated. The young princess struggled to handle both public scrutiny and her personal issues (she suffered from bulimia and depression). In 1991, the royal couple separated. Three years later, Carlos admitted that he committed adultery during his marriage to Diana during a television interview. The future king then resumed the relationship with his then lover and current wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles. Their divorce was finalized in August 1996, and Diana, who was already engaged in humanitarian causes during their separation, focused on his work. She died a year later, on August 31, 1997, when her car crashed in a tunnel in Paris. She was 36 years old.
Jealous for the attention his wife generated and stole the limelight, Carlos gave her a hard time in public.
During a royal event in 1989, Carlos insulted Diana in front of his royal hosts, according to Tina Brown's The Diana Chronicles. An emir approached Diana to ask what she had planned during the official visit - Diana was planning to visit a clinic for immigrant women and visit a center for children with mental disabilities - when Carlos answered for her.
"Go shopping, huh, honey?" Carlos said, according to The Diana Chronicles. Holmes also cites the scene. "Diana blushed, muttered something inaudible and fell silent," revealed Diana's private secretary, Patrick Jephson, in Brown's book.
"Deep down, I think she wanted Carlos's attention," Holmes said. "The most famous example is her revenge dress that she wore the night the documentary aired in which Carlos admitted that he had been unfaithful."
Holmes said Diana could have responded to public humiliation in a number of ways, including by staying home. But it did not. “Instead, he chose a fantastic black dress and it just wowed,” explained the journalist, then added: “The photos ended up coinciding with the news of his husband's affair. To insert herself into the narrative, to regain her voice without saying a word, she simply got out of the car in a fantastic dress. He knew how to wear fashion to get attention. "
Some of Diana's most memorable styling moments came at the end of her marriage and at the beginning of her new life, the author explains. “It was like in the middle of her divorce, and afterward, you can tell that Diana started dressing the way she wanted. I knew what looked good on her body, ”Holmes told People.
A couple of months before her death, the princess emptied part of her closet and auctioned 79 of her most iconic dresses for charity purposes.
Like her daughters-in-law, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, Holmes claimed, Diana knew when to dress more casually to attract the most attention for the causes that mattered to her. “Some of the most iconic images are those of Diana going through a landmine, dressed in khaki pants and loafers. Fashion was not part of the equation at all. But that also has real power ”.
