Diana’s former hairdresser Richard Dalton tells PEOPLE about the royal’s improvised headband

By
Janine Henni

and
Erin Hill

Updated on May 23, 2024 06:29PM EDT

Princess Diana in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 31, 1985. Photo: Anwar Hussein/WireImage

Princess Diana remains renowned for her iconic sense of style — which sometimes meant getting inventive on the fly.

The late Princess of Wales made a fashion splash when she wore an emerald-and-diamond choker necklace as a headband in Australia with the future King Charles in 1985, and her former hairdresser Richard Dalton is sharing why — along with the fashion hack that made it happen!

“I think she had sunburn on her neck so we said, ‘Let’s make a headband of it,’ ” Dalton recalled at the Styling Princess Diana panel at Fotografiska New York on May 21, celebrating PEOPLE’s 50th anniversary.

“I asked Evelyn, her dresser, for six inches of knicker elastic, [the kind used by] grannies,” he added with a laugh about how he transformed the dazzling accessory into a headpiece. In 2022, Kate Middleton brought the choker out of the royal vault and wore it for the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in Boston.

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Dalton first met Princess Diana, then Lady Diana Spencer, when she was 17. He went on to style her hair for more than a decade, including royal tours around the world.

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“My favorite [hairstyle] would be Thailand,” he said at Fotografiska, recalling the floral look from 1988. “[She wore a] purple and shocking pink dress and I said, ‘Why don’t we do orchids?’ I went into the hotel, stealing flowers for the princess. This was my favorite. She loved it.”

Princess Diana at a dinner in Bangkok, Thailand, on Feb. 4, 1988.Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

Dalton is set to publish a new book titled It’s All About the Hair — My Decade with Diana, with The Princess Diana Museum founder Renae Plant, and cited the surprising impact of Diana’s tresses.

“We decided whatever charity she was representing, the hair would sometimes take away from what she was doing,” Dalton recalled. “[In] Saudi Arabia, she wanted it short. We would cut it every day about a quarter of an inch,” he said. “[After] eight weeks, nobody noticed!”

Princess Diana in Saudi Arabia during an official visit in November 1986.Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty

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The choker that Princess Diana memorably wore on her head to the gala dinner in Melbourne was paired with a cerulean one-shoulder gown by her wedding dress designer Elizabeth Emanuel, who also spoke at the Styling Princess Diana panel.

During the conversation, moderated by PEOPLE’s Senior Royals Editor Erin Hill, Emanuel said the assignment of a lifetime was Diana’s 1981 wedding day.

“The aim was to make a fairytale princess dress,” said Emanuel, who famously created the voluminous ivory ball gown with 25-foot train with her former husband David — along with a secret backup dress the bride never knew about.

“We were students, we loved drama, we had free rein, nobody told us what to do, and I think that was the fun of it. That was why the dress was so special,” Emanuel explained. “There was an innocence about her and us.”

Elizabeth Emanuel (left) and Princess Diana (right) coordinating outfits for a royal tour in 1986.Tim Graham/Getty Images

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Diana worked with the Emanuels both before and after her wedding day, from a “grown up” black ballgown in 1980 to looks like the cerulean dress in Australia and more.

“No feedback from the palace, nothing, no protocol,” Elizabeth said of the creative freedom they had in dressing the princess. “I don’t think they expected such a reaction, I think they underestimated the effect of Diana.”