Princess Diana was known for her fashion choices, often drawing attention with her outfits, especially after her separation from Prince Charles. However, even while married to him, Diana and her hairdresser, Richard Dalton, often made headlines with their iconic looks, one of which came from a rather unexpected source, a sunburn from which Diana was unable to recover before the event.
In his book It’s All About the Hair: My Decade with Diana, Princess of Wales, Dalton shared a memorable moment from their royal tour of Australia in 1985. On October 31, Diana mentioned that she got a sunburn on her neck after spending a day in the hot Australian sun. Despite this, she wanted to wear an emerald and diamond necklace, a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth, to a gala dinner at the Southern Cross Hotel that evening.
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Dalton was struck by the beauty of the necklaces and, inspired by their appeal, proposed an unconventional idea. “Why don’t we stick emeralds in your hair?” – he remembered the thoughts in the book.
During a discussion on People’s 50th anniversary, Dalton detailed how the idea came to life. He asked Evelyn, Diana’s dresser, for six inches of stretchy pants that grandmothers usually use, and turned the necklace into a headband. He carefully tied the elastic to the necklace, draped it over Diana’s forehead and secured it in the back, styling her hair to keep it in place.
Diana was delighted with the result and, as Dalton later reflected, “I never drove without panties again.” He called the necklace-as-headband moment his “first big statement,” adding: “We caused such a sensation that night.”
The iconic necklace has since returned, with Kate Middleton wearing it around her neck at the 2022 Earthshot Prize Awards in Boston, as originally intended.
