Hairspray, Regal Humor and Palace Hijinks: Princess Diana's Hairdresser Shares How the People's Princess' Love for Practical Jokes Became Part of Her
Diana, Princess of Wales, was a royal who was 'never afraid to laugh," and the one-time future queen's 'bawdy sense of humor' has been revealed by her former hairdresser.
The late Diana, Princess of Wales' memorable fashions of the 1980s and '90s are part of her legacy, but the royal's many hairstyles of those eras are also consistently singled out for praise. Diana's '80s hairdos are the work of hairdresser Richard Dalton, who recently revealed the ex-HRH loved to "tell dirty jokes" during his decade working for the one-time future queen.
His new book It's All About the Hair: My Decade With Diana even went so far as to share how Diana liked planting "fake vomit and poo" on flights just to laugh as unsuspecting victims discovered the lewd props.
"Her jokes were hysterical," Dalton shared. "She always had plastic vomit or plastic dog poop in her bag to place on people’s seats when we traveled on long flights."
Dalton started working for the one-time future queen before her 1981 wedding to then-Prince Charles, up until 1991, when the pair parted amicably.
The book's co-author, and curator of The Princess Diana Museum, Ranea Plant, shared a similar view of the beloved royal, and stated, "I do find the humorous side of Diana to be very sweet. She just wanted to be 'normal' and was just like the rest of us."
One of Diana's jokes even went so far as to include one of the late Queen Elizabeth II's beloved corgi dogs.
"I was patting it, as I love dogs when Diana came up and the corgi started to lick her legs," Dalton wrote. "She said, 'Whose dog is that?' I said, 'It's your mother-in-law's new corgi.' She replied with a laugh, 'Well, get it out of here, as it’s licking all the fake suntan off my legs.'"
The former Princess of Wales' funny side even came out once during an impromptu moment involving the Prince of Wales having a serious moment.
The future king proposed to his then-future queen on February 6, 1981, after only roughly eight months of dating between the pair. The engagement was formally announced to the world on February 24 with a July 29 wedding date set for St Paul's Cathedral, which some saw as an odd choice for a royal wedding, with the venue having been selected due to its "massive size" to fit thousands of world guests.
According to various sources, including biographers and Diana herself, the proposal was somewhat awkward and unromantic. The Prince of Wales popped the question in the nursery at Windsor Castle. The moment was not as grand or meticulously planned as one might expect for a royal engagement.
"She burst out laughing," royal biographer Ingrid Seward revealed. "I think that was probably her nerves. She didn't think it was the most romantic of proposals, but she had the proposal."
Author Christopher Wilson shared that Diana "was completely bowled over by this — didn't see it coming."
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Marie Claire reported on Dalton's book.
