For anyone who's wondered how Princess Diana managed to look effortlessly polished while subtly bending royal protocols, here's a fascinating tidbit from behind the palace walls. Diana, who loved to wear a skirt suit or short dress, had a clever way of avoiding those stuffy royal tights that were practically mandatory for royal women in the '80s.
According to the late princess's longtime dance instructor, Anne Allan, Diana had a clever way of getting out of wearing stockings. In her memoir Dancing With Diana, Allan wrote that she was in Rome during the same time as the princess in 1985, and upon the royal's return to London, Diana was showing off quite the glow.
"She looked quite tanned, although this was hard to gauge; she had told me her secret of using tanning oil on her legs to avoid wearing tights whenever possible," the dance pro wrote.
Although it's a small detail, it reveals so much about Diana's subtle rebellion against restrictive royal fashion rules. Instead of suffering in uncomfortable pantyhose during warm weather, Princess Diana discovered that a strategic application of bronzer could create the perfect illusion of proper hosiery. It was rebellious whilst not being too rebellious.
Aside from Diana's self-tan hack, Allan shared plenty of other royal tidbits in her memoir, including the hilarious story of how Princess Diana snuck backstage to watch a show featuring a dancer dressed like baby Prince William. The author also shared how the late princess would confide in her during their weekly dance lessons, which lasted for nine years.
Allan was one of the few people who knew about Princess Diana's eating disorder, and the princess also told the dance teacher about her marital troubles with Prince Charles. “I just can’t seem to do anything right when it comes to my husband. I do love him so much and want him to be proud of me, but I don’t think he feels the same way," she told Allan during one lesson.
On a lighter note, the choreographer also shared how she once met Queen Elizabeth at a royal garden party in her memoir. Allan described the late monarch's eyes as being "a charismatic blue" and wrote how she remembered "marveling at her porcelain skin." Seems like someone wasn't clued into Diana's tanning trick.
