The Reason Why Princess Diana Got Her Iconic Short Haircut

From her outfits to her hairstyles, the People's Princess really set a precedent for style. Here's the story behind Princess Diana's distinctive '90s haircut.

Princess DianaPhoto: Mike Forster/Daily Mail/REX/Shutterstock

The late Princess Diana was renowned for her profound effect on the fashion world, but her most iconic hairstyle, immortalized during her 1990 British Vogue photo shoot, almost never came to be. 

Sam McKnight served as the hairstylist for the aforementioned shoot and made the changes to Diana’s locks firsthand. In his new book, Hair by Sam McKnight, he explained the bit of follicle-manipulating magic that made Diana first take a liking to the style. (These nine secrets about Princess Diana were only revealed after she died.)

“I made her hair look short in the tiara for the shoot and she decided she liked it…As she was leaving, Diana asked what would I do to her hair if I had free reign…I suggested cutting it short and she, to my surprise, agreed, and we did it there and then.”

After the spontaneous quick snip, McKnight formed a working relationship with Diana. Whenever she was in London, he would swing by for a morning hair maintenance appointment and would sometimes swing by in the evening if the Princess had an event in the evening. (This is what really happened between Diana and Prince Charles.)

But it wasn’t just Diana who took a liking to McKnight’s stylings; William was a pretty big fan, too. “Sometimes her beloved boys would be there and I would cut their hair, too,” he writes. “I remember Prince William responded in glee when I put gel in his hair for the first time.” Yep, a haircut that shaped a decade of style was done without an appointment.

[Source: People]

Next, find out the story behind Princess Diana’s revenge dress.

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