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Beauty & Style

The truth about Princess Diana’s iconic hair

Princess Diana has always been considered an icon in her own right – and this includes the royal’s hair.

However, a style choice that made history has actually been revealed by Diana’s personal hair stylist as a “split-second” decision.

Sam McKnight, who worked with Diana from 1990 right up until her death in 1997, told British Vogue that there was a moment that led to the iconic cut.

"This leggy blonde comes bouncing up the stairs, smiled and made us all melt, and it was Princess Diana," he said.


He revealed that while playing with the royal's hair as she posed for British Vogue, McKnight saw a look for Diana that was much different to her usual style.

"I made it look short under the tiara — I faked it a bit," he said.

When the photoshoot ended, McKnight told Diana he would style her hair however she wanted if she gave him free reign.

"I said, 'I would cut it all off and just start again,'" he said.

"It was the beginning of the '90s and it was at the time that I was doing lots of shows and covers and a lot of the girls had short hair, and we were moving from the big frou-frou '80s into the sharp, more androgynous, business chic of the '90s."


Diana told him to do it immediately, to McKnight’s surprise.

"So I cut it off then and we never looked back," he said.

Princess Diana would go on to praise McKnight for shaping her personal view of herself in the 90s.

Tags:
Princess Diana, hairstyle, Beauty & style, Lifestyle, Sam McKnight