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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

Princess Diana's iconic jacket hinted at surprise support for Super Bowl side

As the annual Super Bowl looms, it's fair to say that the worlds of the NFL and royalty hardly ever collide.

Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie did attend last year's event in Inglewood, California, but no members of the Firm are known to be massive American football fans.

However, there was once speculation that Harry's late mother Princess Diana was a secret supporter of one of the teams up for this year's Super Bowl - and it was all down to one of her iconic jackets.

In 1991, she was snapped on the school run with Harry and brother Prince William taking them to Wetherby Prep School in West London.

Princess Diana in her Philadelphia Eagles jacket at Alton Towers in 1994 (David Hartley/REX/Shutterstock)
Diana's jacket had the Eagles logo across the back (Michael Fresco/Evening Standard/REX/Shutterstock)

For the outing, Diana wore a chic black blouse and skirt - paired with a custom-made Philadelphia Eagles jacket.

The green and silver jacket featured the world 'Eagles' across the back and was emblazoned with the team's logo.

Several years later in 1994, she snapped in the jacket again, this time with a casual black jumper and jeans on a day out with her sons at Alton Towers.

Diana was first seen in jacket on the school run in 1991 (Getty Images)
The jacket was a gift from the Eagles team (Getty Images)

And a glorious image taken of the late princess at the theme park featured on the front of a memorable cover of PEOPLE magazine.

It clearly led to speculation that she was a fan of the Philadelphia side who go head to head with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.

But sadly Diana never actually went to an Eagles game - and it's not even though she had much interest in the sport.

So how did she end up with the jacket? Well, it was down to a chance meeting more than 40 years ago in 1982.

Diana with her sons William and Harry (Getty Images)

In that year she attended the funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco, who originally hailed from Philadelphia, and struck up a conversation with Jack Edelstein.

He was a friend of Princess Grace's brother and the official team statistician for the Eagles.

According to the Philadelphia Enquirer, Diana asked Jack about his job and the team and was curious to know which colours the team played in.

Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie at last year's Super Bowl (NBC)

When she was told green and silver, Jack said the late princess told him those were her favourite colours - and he hatched a plan.

On arriving back in the US after the funeral, he arranged to have a bag of Eagles merchandise sent to Diana by the team's then-owner Leonard Tose - along with the custom-made jacket, to which Diana sent them a very kind thank you note.

It's unknown what happened to the jacket following her untimely death in 1997 - but it's a jacket that has proved to be one of her most iconic looks.

And even if she wasn't exactly a proper fan of the team - at least the Eagles can count on several famous supporters tonight to cheer them on against the Chiefs.

They include First Lady Dr Jill Biden, Hollywood actors Will Smith and Bradley Cooper as well as superstar singer Pink.

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