What fascinates so much regarding Diana, one asks oneself every year on the anniversary of her death. Business-minded people seize the moment and offer everything from Diana for sale to make money: be it – as recently – the auction of Diana’s Ford Escort, with which she is said to have preferred to travel privately, be it her bicycle or her clothing collection.
The basic equipment of the 19-year-old Diana was very modest. She only owned a single dress, a blouse and a pair of good shoes and borrowed the rest from friends.
Diana only slowly settled into her new role following her marriage to Prince Charles in 1981. Diana, initially dubbed “Lady Shy” by the press, rises from smartly dressed young girl to glamorous fashion icon. Their motto: simple cuts, noble materials.
Diana learned very quickly that she can use the clothes to tell a story, to send information and also to fight once morest it when she felt it was very important. She used her clothes to send important messages to the outside world. What she wore made headlines. When she was on the cover of a magazine, sales increased by forty percent.
Everything she wore as a fashion role model was registered, imitated and, above all, bought later. As a trendsetter, she was 916th on the list of the richest people in England, ahead of Charles. Her fortune was estimated at 60 million euros. There are also 95 ball gowns, 176 dresses, 178 suits, 54 coats, 350 pairs of shoes and jewels worth 25 million euros.
“When I go home and turn off the light at night, I know I’ve done my best,” Diana said. Diana – a fairy tale princess, a ally of heart, a betrayed, a forsaken. Her early death turned her into a myth.