Princess Diana’s Private Farewell to the Woman Who Truly Understood Her

Behind the gown: Diana’s quiet goodbye to the woman who understood her pain

The world was in awe of Princess Diana’s ethereal beauty as she glided down the red carpet at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, with cameras snapping and flashbulbs flashing.

However, not everyone at the time understood the deeper symbolism woven throughout her delicate blue tulle gown’s folds.

Beyond just style

Princess Diana was the center of attention whenever she appeared at a public function. Referred to as “The People’s Princess,” she exuded charm and changed the royal code of fashion.

Diana rose to fame as a global fashion star in the 1980s and 1990s, frequently choosing more casual, approachable styles over the customary royal rigor.

One of her favorite signature looks? Pastels. She wore these delicate, sophisticated hues in everything from fitted suits to flowing dresses, making them a mainstay in her closet.

Princess Diana had one of her most famous fashion moments in 1987, however it isn’t as well-known as the others.

Diana and Prince Charles only spent a total of ten hours at Cannes together. The royal couple’s official purpose in Cannes was to encourage the British film industry, pay tribute to Sir Alec Guinness, and attend a glitzy black-tie dinner at the Festival Palace.

High security for the Gala dinner

Diana didn’t talk at the dinner, but she wasn’t required to. Every camera lens and eye was focused on her. Throughout the entire festival, that supper turned into the most sought-after invitation.

Ticket holders had to provide their passports for identity checks in order to enter, and security was strictly enforced.

Most people only regarded Diana as a princess wearing another gorgeous dress when she entered the screening of The Whales of August. Her gown’s flowing chiffon scarf caught the breeze as photographers took pictures of her from every possible angle.

It was more than just a glitzy photo opportunity, though. Catherine Walker, Diana’s lifelong partner, created a strapless, powder-blue gown that was more than just a style statement.

In addition to drawing attention, Walker, the designer who would go on to create many of Diana’s most memorable fashion moments, created a gown that subtly honored another royal figure who had had a significant influence on Diana.

The dress’s flowing lines and cold color evoked the grace of Princess Grace of Monaco, a princess whose terrible demise had never left Diana’s thoughts.

The diva, who was born in Philadelphia and was the pinnacle of elegance and beauty, left the big screen at the age of 26 to wed Prince Rainier III and become Princess of Monaco.

Grace Kelly died in a terrible vehicle accident five years before to the 1987 Cannes Film Festival; Diana would suffer the same terrible end ten years later.

Seldom mentioned

However, few members of the press appeared to notice the subtly woven tribute to Grace’s ageless, frosty elegance that was sewn into Diana’s flowing, pale blue gown on that glitzy night in Cannes.

It was not widely known that Diana’s dress was a subtly homage to one of her first royal confidantes. If you search the 1987 archives, you will hardly find any mention of it, so at least the newspapers didn’t take it up at the time.

However, the relationship seems clear today, and even back then, to some astute observers. The dress’s flowing silhouette and icy blue hue made it remarkably reminiscent of the Edith Head gown Grace Kelly wore in Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, which was renowned for being shot on the French Riviera.

That decision was not made by chance. According to reports, Grace’s on-screen persona served as a direct source of inspiration for Diana and designer Catherine Walker.

Hitchcock himself even chose the particular shade of blue to convey a feeling of cold, untouchable beauty.

Diana and Grace Kelly had a special connection. Despite their short time together, Diana was profoundly affected.

Diana had met Grace at a charity banquet in 1981, shortly after she got engaged. The 19-year-old bride-to-be had sobbed in the ladies’ room, feeling anxious and overwhelmed.

Grace, who was 51 at the time, held her close and gave her the kind of counsel that only a woman who had experienced the royal machine could provide. Diana never forgot that event.

Princess Grace also had a unique connection to Cannes since, in April 1955, she met Prince Rainier, her future husband, while she was still an American actress on the French Riviera.

And Diana paid her respects in silence 32 years later as she entered the same French territory where Grace had first met Prince Rainier decades before. No words. No news release. Only memory, cloth, and color.

According to Newsweek, this eye-grabbing piece gave the dress a light, flowing feel by “catching the breeze that was high on the evening of the film screening.”

Diana would don the same dress again for the Miss Saigon premiere two years later. Additionally, she sold 79 legendary costumes at her renowned Christie’s charity auction in 1997, only months before her own untimely death.

The Cannes gown sold for $70,700, according to Tatler. Later, in 2013, it would reappear at auction and bring in over $132,000, with the earnings going to a charity that supports children.

The outfit was on display behind glass at Kensington Palace in 2017 as part of a memorial service for the 20th anniversary of her death.

It now acts as a time capsule, capturing not just Diana’s sense of style but also her anguish, quiet depth, and homage to a woman who knew her suffering better than anyone else.