“Because I knew the real person, it just looks like pantomime to me,” said Sam McKnight, who worked with the late Princess of Wales for seven years

Princess Diana attends a dinner at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C, in November 1985. Photo: Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty

Portrayals of the late Princess Diana on screen are “hard to watch,” according to her former hairstylist.

Speaking in a recent episode of haircare expert and social media personality Jonathan Van Ness’ podcast Pretty Curious, Sam McKnight, who styled the former Princess of Wales’ hair for seven years before her death in 1997, said it was difficult to watch fictional dramatizations of her onscreen because of “all the mistakes.”

Princess Diana has been played onscreen by multiple actresses on Netflix’s The Crown, which wrapped up at the end of last year after six seasons, and the 2021 film Spencer, where she was portrayed by Kristen Stewart.

“To most people, they’re not mistakes because they’re only going on what their perception is, but because I knew the real person, it just looks like pantomime to me,” McKnight said. “Although I have to say, I thought the clips I saw of Elizabeth Debicki in the last season of The Crown, I thought she actually was the first one who kind of [caught her].”

Princess Diana visits the Theatre Museum in 1990. Julian Parker/UK Press
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Debicki’s portrayal of Princess Diana in seasons 5 and 6 of The Crown earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and two Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana on The Crown before Debicki took over the role, also won a Golden Globe for her performance as the late Princess of Wales.

McKnight said Corrin “caught a glimpse of her too, but the wigs weren’t so great. But Elizabeth Debicki, I feel that they kind of got it right, you know. It was as close [as the show got].”

Elizabeth Debicki in 2023; Princess Diana in 1996.Michael Buckner/Getty; Julian Parker/Getty

McKnight met Princess Diana at a 1990 British Vogue photoshoot and worked together for the rest of her life.

“We were booked on a shoot to shoot young royals for British Vogue, and she happens to be the last one,” McKnight said on the podcast. “We didn’t know it was going to be her — and then this sort of tall, leggy blonde comes bouncing up the stairs and, you know what, she had us at ‘Hello.’ ”

Of the Princess of Wales, McKnight added, “She was just so disarming and charming and funny, and stuck her hand out with a big smile and [said], ‘Hi, I’m Diana. What are we gonna do?’ “

McKnight detailed how he pinned Princess Diana’s permed hair up to give the impression that it had been cut short and anchored it with a tiara for the now-famous photo taken by fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier.

Princess Diana’s on the cover of British Vogue in 1990, seen here at a 2016 exhibition in London.

After the British Vogue shoot, McKnight said Princess Diana approached him eager for a change in her hairstyle.

“At the end of the day, after we’d done the shoot, she said, ‘What would you do with my hair if I said, ‘Do anything?’” McKnight said. “And I said, ‘Do you know what? It’s 1990. I would cut it all off and start again.’ Get rid of the perm, make it more streamlined — and that’s what we did.”

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Kate Moss and Sam McKnight attend the V&A Summer Party on June 19, 2024.Dave Benett/Getty

He continued, “We did that before she went home. We kind of got the kit back out — ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ And that was it. And that was seven years I spent with her after that.”

Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997, as a result of injuries sustained in a Parisian car accident. She was 36 years old.