Princess Diana Avoided Wearing Heels Until After Her Divorce From Charles for a Surprising Reason
Princess Diana majorly wore flat shoes around King Charles, later adding an inch to her footwear after her marriage broke down.
Nearly 30 years after her death, Princess Diana remains known for her innocent beauty, compassion, and exquisite fashion choices. The late Princess of Wales, once hailed as one of the most beautiful women in the world, stood at a statuesque 5 feet 10 inches. Her tall height also became the very reason she refrained from wearing high heels around now-King Charles, during their decade-long union, as she would otherwise risk overshadowing him as he stood at a similar height.
Charles and his late wife both stood at 5 feet 10 inches, and Diana reportedly did not wish to risk upsetting her husband by appearing taller than him. As a result, she often opted for flats in the early years of their marriage. However, as their union irretrievably broke down, so did her style evolve. According to Eloise Moran, author of The Lady Di Look Book, the late Princess gradually raised her heel height year by year. As reported by Business Insider, she wrote, "Jimmy Choo recalled that at the start of their seven-year friendship, Diana always ordered flats, then as her marriage started to crumble, the heels got higher."
As for why Diana was initially wary of wearing stilettos, Moran penned, "For years, Diana wore shoes no higher than two inches out of respect to her husband's ego. Since he [Charles] was the same height as she was…As the estranged royal's confidence grew, so did her heels." Moreover, even her wedding shoes were purposely kept low so that she wouldn't command more attention than her ex-husband. Her wedding heels had 542 sequins and 132 pearls, and under the small heel, there was a 'C' and 'D' painted for the couple.
Designer Clive Shilton, who designed her heels for the grand nuptials, once said, "Her [Diana's] 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. 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!" Unfortunately for her, the marriage crumbled and the pair officially divorced after 15 years, owing to Charles's affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.
While Diana reportedly felt that Camilla had caused the breakdown of their marriage, Charles begged to differ. Royal biographer Robert Jobson, in his book Charles at Seventy: Thoughts, Hopes and Dreams, revealed that the now-King believed their marriage ended because the pair barely knew each other. He claimed that Charles had allegedly told him, "I desperately wanted to get out of the wedding in 1981, when, during the engagement, I discovered just how awful the prospects were, having had no chance whatsoever to get to know Diana beforehand." Just a year after her infamous 1996 divorce, Diana tragically died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August.
