Brunsdon’s dream outfit for Princess Diana at the coronation was worn by Gigi Hadid at the autumn 2023 Versace runway show in Los Angeles.Credit:Getty
“She had been taken under the wing of Liz Tilberis[then editor ofHarper’s Bazaar] who did offer guidance,but Diana had already found her footing as a rule breaker with fashion. She knew what worked and because she was so tall and athletic,she could get away with almost anything.”
“Even her owning a pair of Chanel shoes that she could never wear sent its own message.”
To send a message at the coronation,Brunsdon thinks Diana would have bucked tradition and gone with a European label like Versace. Diana became friends with designer Gianni Versace,who was murdered in 1997,after wearing one of his blue gowns on the cover ofHarper’s Bazaar in 1991.
“I can’t imagine her in British designers like Christopher Kane or Molly Goddard. She would have gone offshore,” Brunsdon says. “A Versace skirt suit would stand out against all the colourful Temperley dresses at the coronation.”