How Princess Diana Was "Saved From a Fashion Faux Pas" During Her First Time Staying at Balmoral, According to Former Royal Butler
"There were anxious looks downstairs about whether she would be socially embarrassed."
Princess Diana's style has endured decades after her death. Not only does the former Princess of Wales's fashion continue to inspire people around the globe, her outfits have become the focus of preservation initiatives. But prior to marrying King Charles, Princess Diana allegedly narrowly avoided committing a major "fashion faux pas" during a stay on the Balmoral estate.
In the book A Royal Duty, former palace butler, Paul Burrell, discussed Princess Diana's first time staying at Balmoral, which was also the second occasion she'd ever visited the regal estate.
According to Burrell, the housemaid assigned to help Diana during the trip emerged holding "a simple long black evening dress."
"This is my lady's dress," the housemaid reportedly shared. "She's only got the one and she's here for three nights. What is she going to do?"
The former butler explained, "Most visiting ladies brought with them more than one evening dress, and there were anxious looks downstairs about whether she would be socially embarrassed. She was only 19, a mere teenager in a royal social circle full of men and ladies in their thirties and forties."
"Most visiting ladies brought with them more than one evening dress."
According to Burrell, a person's wardrobe was just one of the many things guests needed "to fret about" at Balmoral.
"Staying at the castle could be a fraught experience for any newcomer: how to address members of the Royal Family; knowing what time to appear for drinks; the social test of dinner-table conversation and whether you would be warmly accepted into the fold," the former butler explained.
Thankfully, pure luck saved Princess Diana from having to wear the same dress for three consecutive evenings.
Burrell continued, "As it turned out, glorious warm evenings saved her from a fashion faux pas. The dress had to be worn only once to dinner because on the two other evenings barbecues were held at the log cabin, bought as a silver wedding anniversary present by The Queen for the Duke of Edinburgh [Prince Philip]."
"There were anxious looks downstairs about whether she would be socially embarrassed."
As for people's first impressions of Diana, Burrell noted, "She was quiet, and blushed easily, but there was nothing extraordinary about her. If the staff noted anything, it was that she was pretty, polite, devoid of pomposity—and her wardrobe was inadequate for a lady who was on the arm of the heir to the throne."
