In his new tell-all book, Hair By Sam McKnight, the man behind Princess Diana’s cropped ’do, has dished on the moment she decided to cut her golden locks short.
The year was 1990 and Sam was summoned to work with famed French photographer Patrick Demarchelier on a top secret shoot for Vogue.
Unbeknownst to him, his subject was Princess Diana.
“I’d been told we were shooting someone important for Vogue, and guessed it might be Margaret Thatcher — and then the Princess walked in,” Sam recalls to The Daily Mail.
At the time, the mother-of-two was sporting longer locks. So, in order to capture the now famous shot of the princess in a white gown and tiara, Sam tucked up her tresses.
“I faked a short style for the shoot, using hair grips to tuck her shoulder length hair under the tiara,” the celebrity hairstylist explained.
Sam McKnight was the man behind Princess Diana’s much-copied hairstyle.
Diana liked his work so much, she asked him afterwards: “What would you do with my hair if I gave you free rein?” Feeling brave, I said: ‘I would cut it all off.’”
Sold on his vision, the Princess agreed to the new look.
“‘Let’s do it,’ she said. So I cut it off there and then. I had no idea what was about to ensue. The style became frontpage news.”
Indeed, the Diana Effect ricocheted across the globe with copycat looks appearing instantly.
Sam and Diana forged a strong professional relationship with the hairdresser working for the princess on a weekly basis.
“We’d often watch Channel 4 soap Brookside at the palace together while I was doing her hair and I went on a number of her official trips,” Sam told the Daily Mail.
Their bond has been forever immortalised on the famous 1991 cover of Vogue, with Diana’s cool cropped hairstyle taking centre stage as she rests her head on her hands in a black turtle neck.
Sam first styled Diana’s hair for this 1990 shoot, her long hair is in fact tucked under the tiara.
And that cover wasn’t just a win because of how stunning she looked, in fact it marked another victory for the beloved icon.
“She had just stopped biting her nails and was so proud of how they looked,” Sam shared.
Nearly two decades since her untimely death, Princess Diana’s style and legacy is still being celebrated.
In February next year, Diana’s most memorable outfits will be showcased at Kensington Palace in a comprehensive exhibition called Diana: Her Fashion Story.
Next year, her most memorable ensembles will be showcased in an exhibition at Kensington Palace.
“Our exhibition explores the story of a young woman who had to quickly learn the rules of royal and diplomatic dressing, who in the process put the spotlight on the British fashion industry and designers,” curator Eleri Lynn explained.
“We see her growing in confidence throughout her life, increasingly taking control of how she was represented, and intelligently communicating through her clothes.”
This story originally appeared on Woman’s Day Australia
