Princess Diana 'nearly didn't go' to Vanity Fair party where she wore revenge dress, ex-butler reveals
Princess Diana “nearly didn’t go” to the Vanity Fair ball where she wore her ‘revenge dress’ according to her former butler Paul Burrell.
The late Princess of Wales attended the party, at the Serpentine in Hyde Park, as Prince Charles spoke publicly about his affair with Camilla, then Parker-Bowles.
The dress was auctioned off in 1997 and fetched $3.25 million.
Burrell, 61, shared a video on Instagram in which he said the picture of her arriving at the event in 1994 was one of his favourite of the princess.
He also revealed she nearly didn’t go, and that he was the one to choose the dress and send her out on her way.
He said: “This was my favourite dress. I remember this evening well, the princess turned to me and said ‘I'm not going, I can't face the world. Not after Prince Charles has just been on national TV discussing his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles’.”
He says he told her she was going because they were expecting her, to which she replied: “I’ve got nothing to wear.”
Read more: Harry and Meghan reveal new organisation name - and inspiration for calling son Archie
Burrell, who is from Cheshire, continued: “So I went to her wardrobe, pulled out this dress, zipped her up and the finishing touches were the pull choker and high heels.
“As she left I said to her ‘Remember to say this to yourself: I am Diana, the Princess of Wales, I am here to stay and I am the mother of the future King of England’.”
He concluded by saying: “She did it, and I was so proud of her.”
Read more: Harry and Meghan 'house hunting in same area Diana hoped to live' as they start California life
Diana’s dress that evening became known as the ‘revenge dress’ as she wowed partygoers in Kensington despite the focus on her former husband’s interview.
Charles was confessing to Jonathan Dimbleby that he had been unfaithful with Camilla, who he eventually married in 2005.
British fashion journalist and stylist Alex Longmore told HuffPost in 2018: “It was the first time people had been introduced to the new Diana, the one who didn’t need the royal family, especially Prince Charles.
“In that minidress, she oozed confidence, an air of happiness and independence.”
Diana’s former stylist Anna Harvey said the princess dug the necklace out of her closet at the last minute, having been ready to wear something else that night.
Harvey said the former royal had wanted to “look a million dollars”.
Read more: Meghan Markle 'taught me so much about mental health' says duchess's former hairdresser
Burrell worked for the Queen and then Diana for 10 years, and has written a memoir and spoken extensively about his relationship with the late princess.
He worked with her both while she was a senior royal and after she stepped back when he marriage broke down.
Burrell says she described him as “the only man she ever trusted” but it’s only his own writing which backs that up.
He recently defended Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to step back from senior royal duties too, telling Good Morning Britain “that is a very strange family to marry into”.