In 1994, Princess Diana made waves when she stepped out in what's been dubbed
her "revenge dress." This was huge news at the time, so let’s review.
Here's what you need to know about the jaw-dropping look that shocked a nation.
Princess Diana had places to be on the night of June 29, 1994.
As reported by “The Sun,” Diana was scheduled to attend a dinner at the Serpentine Gallery
in Kensington Gardens, one of London's royal parks. Few knew the true significance for Diana,
however. Her husband was going on national television to admit he had cheated on her.
“Until now, the Prince has not spoken about the collapse of his marriage.”
The dress ⁠— which featured a low neckline and impossibly high thigh split ⁠— was a first for the
royal and certainly a departure from the Princess’ typical look. Though “The Sun” noted that she and
Prince Charles had been separated for two years by the time Diana attended the event, wearing the
dress still made a statement: How could anyone have cheated on a woman who looks this good?
While Princess Diana's revenge dress might not feel like that big of a deal these days,
the garment was actually an act of open defiance. The royal family had, and still has,
a strict set of rules that govern what they are and are not allowed to wear. Everything
from nail polish to clothing is covered, and as The Evening Standard pointed out, everyone from
the Queen down to the youngest member of the family is expected to follow protocol.
One rule that the Queen is said to favor is that women's skirts should be cut at the knee or just
below. From the looks of the big smile Diana wore as she exited her car wearing the dress,
it doesn't seem like she was too bothered about disregarding that particular concern.
Of course, as soon as Princess Diana stepped out in the jaw-dropping dress,
people clamored for details. As shared by “The Sun,” the designer was Christina Stambolian,
who was born in Greece and moved to London in 1970. Stambolian later told “The Sun”
that Diana had purchased the dress years before she actually wore it,
and that it was clear she was in no mood to play nice that fateful night. As the designer put it:
"She was clearly angry. [...] She wore bright red nail enamel,
which we had never seen her do before. She was saying 'Let's be wicked tonight!'"
One curious detail about the revenge dress is that Princess Diana didn't plan to wear it at
all. As “People Magazine” pointed out, many might have decided to cancel a public appearance when
their former flame was prepped for a TV tell-all. Instead, Diana wanted to redirect attention to
herself, and to send a message to Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, and the rest of the world.
Diana reportedly planned to wear a dress by Valentino that night,
but scrapped those plans after her planned outfit was leaked to the media ahead of the event.
William Ivey Long, the costume designer for the Broadway play "Diana," told
“People” that, in that moment, Diana made a choice. As he said:
"She decided that she was going to fight back, and she decided that she would
[choose] a dress that she had previously rejected as being a little too much."
To really set the entire ensemble off, Princess Diana chose to pair the dress with a choker that
she'd been given by none other than the Queen Mother herself. As shared by “The
Express,” Princess Diana possessed some of the most impressive jewels in the world,
including a sapphire brooch she had been gifted by Queen Elizabeth's mother when Diana
married Prince Charles in 1981. Passed through generations of royals like many royal baubles,
Diana’s brooch had once been owned by Queen Mary.
Princess Diana had the piece redesigned, adding several strands of pearls to form
a choker necklace instead, with the sapphire showcased at the center. She was said to have
really loved the necklace, and wore it on many occasions, including in 1985 when she danced
with John Travolta at an event. Diamond expert Max Stone told “The Express” that the necklace could
be worth between £50,000,000 to £100,000,000, or about $68,000,000 to $136,000,000.
If Princess Diana's goal was to redirect attention onto herself, the revenge dress definitely
fulfilled its purpose. “The Sun” ran a photo of Diana wearing the dress below the pointed headline
"The Thrilla He Left to Woo Camilla."
The message was clear: Many were wondering what in the world Charles could have been thinking.
“I’m not a total idiot.”
The public was equally taken by the dress. As British journalist Alex Longmore explained to
“HuffPost,” the evening was one of the first times that anyone in the
public had a glimpse and understanding of who the "new Diana" was. He said,
"It was a classic case of a woman wearing the dress and not the other way around."
Fans of the Netflix series "The Crown" might be pleased to learn that a dress
very deliberately designed to be very similar to the revenge dress appeared on the show.
The show's costume designer Amy Roberts told “Bustle” that recreating the dress
meant paying attention to every single detail, as well as exploring why Princess Diana chose
to wear a black dress in the first place. The color alone was enough to signal that
Diana was tired of abiding by the rules set by the royal family. Roberts further explained,
"[The royal family doesn't] like you to wear black — Charles never liked Diana to wear black."
While "The Crown" didn't exactly recreate the revenge dress itself, Roberts told
“Bustle” that the Season 4 finale of the show featured Diana in a black dress on purpose.
Roberts hoped that the dramatized dress would call to mind the historical moment,
and that it would help viewers understand Diana's evolution. As Roberts noted:
"When you think of the first time that we see Diana — when we very first
look at her dressed as this crazy little fairy,
all covered in leaves — and the last time you see her, it couldn't be more different."
CBS News reported that, in 1997, Princess Diana took advice from her son Prince William
and sold several of her most iconic gowns to a New York charity auction house.
As “People” noted, the revenge dress was among those that Diana sold,
and the dress eventually ended up benefiting a good cause. The dress sold for $65,000,
which went to support cancer and AIDS charities, causes close to Diana’s heart.
CBS noted that the dress was not the only one of Diana's that was auctioned off;
in 2013, several of her dresses — including the velvet dress she wore while dancing
with John Travolta — were auctioned to several buyers for a total that exceeded $1.2 million.
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