Giving Princess Diana Certain Chanel Gifts for Christmas Would've Been "a Bad Mistake," Per Former Royal Butler

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published 27 December 2024

Navigating the treacherous terrain of holiday gift-giving is challenging enough when your boss is a regular old corporate executive. But what if you happened to work for Princess Diana? Former royal butler Paul Burrell tells Marie Claire that there's one gift that could've created quite an awkward Christmas moment with the stylish royal—and the reason why is rather heartbreaking.

Discussing some of the late princess's favorite gifts over the years, Burrell—speaking on behalf of Spin Genie—says that one year he "gave her a pair of Chanel costume jewelry earrings." A pretty safe bet in terms of gifts, one would think, and the former butler said he "thought that was a good choice for her as she loved those chunky earrings." So what could've posed a problem?

Burrell said he took care to make "sure" he avoided gifting Princess Diana "earrings with intertwined Cs, which would have been a bad mistake." Considering Diana's husband, Charles, had an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, the double C of Chanel's logo would have been a difficult reminder of her failed marriage.

While Diana did wear Chanel pieces before her divorce—like the gold and black button earrings she sported during a 1993 Christmas event in London—she opted to stay away from the iconic C design post-divorce.

Princess Diana wearing a red tartan coat and holding a bouquet of flowers standing in front of a crowd of people and christmas lights — Diana rocked Chanel logo button earrings in 1993, three years before her divorce.

It's an issue that designer Jayson Brundson recalled in a 2018 interview with Harper's Bazaar Australia, telling the mag that the princess refused to wear anything with the Chanel logo while he was working with her for a 1996 event Down Under.

"She came out holding like handfuls of shoes and bags and just dumped them all down on the couch," Brundson shared of his encounter with the princess. After going through the pieces, he said that he "found a pair of Chanel shoes."

"I said, 'Well these would look great with the Versace,' and she said 'No, I can't wear linked Cs, the double C.' So I asked why, and she said, 'It's Camilla and Charles,'" the designer said.

Along with Chanel, one other thing Diana avoided at Christmas after her divorce was heading to Sandringham with the Royal Family. Burrell tells Marie Claire the princess would celebrate with Prince Harry and Prince William "the weekend before," leaving her sons to spend Christmas with the royals.

"Diana would then have her Christmas by herself," he recalls.

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Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.

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