Living well is the best revenge, or so the saying goes.
For Princess Diana, revenge took the form of an off-the-shoulder, form-fitting, silk dress that made history when she wore it 30 years ago today.
On the night Prince Charles admitted to his affair with Camilla, Diana slipped on the little black number by designer Christina Stambolian to send her own message.
As Charles revealed his infidelity in a TV interview with presenter Jonathan Dimbleby, Diana made a bold statement by wearing the now-famous “Revenge Dress” to a fundraising dinner at the Serpentine Gallery.
Charles’s interview made headlines when he was asked if he had been “faithful and honorable.” He replied “yes,” but added, “Until the marriage became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried.”
However, it was Diana’s choice of dress that truly captured attention. She wore a black dress, a color traditionally reserved for mourning, which many saw as her response to Charles’s admission. Royal writer Tina Brown referred to it as Diana’s “f***-you dress” in her 2007 book The Diana Chronicles. Newspapers at the time highlighted the contrast, with one report saying, “Charles blusters as Diana dazzles.”
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Princess Diana wore the the iconic black number which is now known as the revenge dress, designed by Christina Stambolian, on June 29, 1994, to the Serpentine Gallery
Princess Diana filmed wearing ‘revenge dress’ in 1994
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At the time, her estranged husband Charles was being broadcasted on television around the nation being interviewed about his infidelity with Camilla Parker-Bowles
Diana only wore Stambolian’s dress that night because rival designer Valentino had leaked that the Princess would be wearing one of his designs.
So in making the last-minute swap, a dress that had sat in her wardrobe gathering dust for three years became one of the most famous in history.
She had bought the dress for £900 from Stambolian’s shop after lunching with her brother Charles Spencer at her favourite restaurant, the now-closed San Lorenzo, before wandering down Beauchamp Place in Knightsbridge and walking into Stambolian’s shop.
Christina Stambolian remembered Princess Diana asking for a ‘special dress for a special occasion’ in her store back in 1991, according to Claudia Joseph’s book, Diana: A Life in Dresses.
Stambolian previously recalled how Diana was initially unsure about the revealing design – and wanted it in cream rather than black.
She said: ‘We sat down, and I drew a few sketches on a piece of paper.’
‘The dress was revealing, quite short and showed quite a bit of leg and flesh. Diana was not sure about it. She thought it was a bit risqué. She wanted everything more covered up, longer and the neck higher.
‘I told her she had good legs, and she should show them. “Why not be daring?” I said. She asked her brother [Charles] and he said: “Do what you think is right.” Finally, she said “yes” to the style then we moved on to the colour.
‘I had black in my mind, but she wanted cream. To me Diana was a black and white sort of person. I didn’t like her in the pale pinks and blues with lots of beading.’
It took two dressmakers took more than 60 hours to create the outfit.
Stambolian said she was ‘thrilled to see Diana wear it on that night of all nights.’
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The sketch of Princess Diana’s revenge dress by Christina Stambolian taken from the book Diana: A Life in Dresses by Claudia Joseph
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The revenge dress is made up of an asymmetrical hem, with a flattering sheer tail which dangles from the cinched waist
Referencing Swan Lake – one of Princess Diana’s favourite plays – Ms Stambolian added: ‘She chose not to play the scene like Odette, innocent in white. She was clearly angry.
‘She played it like Odile in black. She wore bright red nail enamel, which we had never seen her do before. She was saying: “Let’s be wicked tonight.”
The dress featured an asymmetrical hem, with a flattering sheer tail which dangled from the cinched waist.
With a flirty sweetheart neckline, Diana turned heads as she paired the dress with sheer tights, stilettos and her beloved pearl and sapphire choker.
The choker originally been a brooch given to her by the Queen Mother.
Diana’s little black dress was daring in many ways.
By opting for a shorter evening look in black – a colour that the Royal Family typically reserved for mourning – the Princess was stepping away from the traditional code of dress.
The outfit represented the death of her marriage as she moved away from her life as a royal and emerged as a new woman.
While three years prior the princess had been too nervous to wear it because it was ‘too daring’, that night it was the perfect fit.
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The Daily Mail’s coverage of Princess Diana’s iconic revenge dress at the time in 1994
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Prince Charles, confessed to being unfaithful to Diana in an interview with Jonathan Dimbleby (left) on 29 June, 1994
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Mr Dimbleby asked Charles if he had been ‘faithful’ to Diana to which he replied ‘Yes,’ and added: ‘Until (the marriage) became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried’
It was everything that any other royal woman wouldn’t have worn to a public event.
Photographer Mark Saunders, the author of Dicing with Di, told the 1997 documentary Diana: In Search of Happiness: ‘Everyone remembers the night of the Dimbleby interview when Prince Charles admitted an affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles and look how Diana turned up at the Serpentine Gallery.
‘I mean my God that was brilliant and I applaud her for it, I thought it was great. But that’s what Diana does, she manipulates and she’s very good at it.’
Diana’s late former stylist Anna Harvey told the 2013 documentary Princess Diana’s Dresses: The Auction, that she wanted to hold her head high in what she chose to wear that evening.
Ms Harvey said: ‘She wanted to look a million dollars. And she did.’ The stylist also wrote in Vogue that it ‘thrilled’ the Princess to make an impact.
But the decision did not come easy to Diana, according to Paul Burrell, her former butler.
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Princess Diana talking to the designer who created the revenge dress, Christina Stambolian (in black jacket)
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Christina Stambolian (pictured) recalls Princess Diana asking for a’unique outfit for a special occasion’ in her store in 1991.
He told the Channel 5 series Secrets of the Royal Dressmakers: ‘She replied, “I can’t go, I can’t face the public knowing what Charles has just said.
“And anyway I haven’t got anything to wear.” I went to her closet room and showed her the Christina Stambolian outfit.
He also mentioned that she was concerned that the slinky dress will no longer fit her after purchasing it three years ago.
He replied, ‘I zipped her up and she looked a million dollars.’
And, for a few hours, her husband’s broadcast confession was forgotten since all eyes were on Diana.