Princess Diana Had a Secret Message for Prince Charles Painted on Her Wedding Shoes That 'No One Saw'
While the glittering tiara and flowing gown made the front page, a lesser-known detail was the sweet message she had painted on her bridal shoes.
The world watched in awe as Princess Diana married Prince Charles in 1981 in what was an event straight out of a fairy tale. While the glittering tiara and flowing gown made it to the front page of every newspaper, one lesser-known detail was the sweet message she had painted for Charles on her bridal shoes. On the soles, Diana engraved the initials 'C' and 'D' as she began her married life.
Diana’s heels sparkled with 542 sequins and 132 pearls. The soles carried a delicate floral design beneath her step. The designer of the shoes, Clive Shilton, said, “[Diana] was a very shy, sweet, smiley-eyed young girl. Her main concern was that she wouldn’t appear taller than Prince Charles, and because she was very tall—5'10"—the shoes would have to have a low heel." As reported by Marie Claire, he added, "No one even saw the bottom of the shoes, but it was important to us that they looked fantastic. You would have seen much more of them if she’d tripped!”
Making the wedding shoes was no easy task—it took six months of careful craftsmanship. Shilton has never revealed the exact price Diana paid, only insisting it was a basic charge. In 2011, a spare pair of the same heels, however, fetched over $50,000 in an auction. At first, the fabric that matched Diana's bridal gown was to be used for her shoes as well, but the fabric turned out to be too delicate. Therefore, Shilton chose a more sturdy silk satin with soft suede soles. The iconic heels are now placed on display, with one sole angled upward to provide a view of the initials.
Apart from her wedding shoes, Diana's wedding gown was also a masterpiece made of silk taffeta and antique lace. It had a sweeping 25-foot train, which was the real star of the show at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1981. Designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel later revealed that the dress creased much more than they had anticipated when Diana and her father, Earl Spencer, rode in a carriage to the church. Despite that, her first appearance was pure magic that will never be forgotten. As reported by The Independent, Elizabeth said, “When she came out of that carriage, it was the most wonderful vision I’d ever seen. She looked like a butterfly emerging from her chrysalis, unfurling her wings and about to fly.”
While Diana's idea of having their initials painted was indeed the sweetest gesture, Charles, for his part, walked into the marriage with a completely different mindset. As per The Mirror, on their honeymoon, he wore cufflinks featuring two intertwined C's—a gift from his long-time lover Camilla Parker Bowles. "I said, 'Camilla gave you those, didn't she?' He said, 'Yes, so what's wrong? They're a present from a friend,'" Diana once recalled. She added, "And boy, did we have a row. Jealousy, total jealousy. And it was such a good idea, the two C's, but it wasn't that clever."
