Princess Diana in Versace in 1996.Photo: Getty
Princess Diana’s signature hairstyle came from an impromptu cut.
Sam McKnight, who became the royal’s personal hairstylist from 1990 until her tragic death in 1997, opened up about the memorable first time he met Princess Diana in a new video forBritishVogueand YouTube U.K.
“The first time I met the Princess of Wales was on a shoot,” he said. “This leggy blonde comes bouncing up the stairs, smiled and made us all melt, and it was Princess Diana.”
McKnight said they had a “really lovely day” doing portraits for BritishVogue, in which he played with her hair.
“I made it look short under the tiara — I faked it a bit,” he said.
When the photoshoot wrapped, Princess Diana asked McKnight how he would do her hair if she let him do whatever he wanted.
“I said, ‘I would cut it all off and just start again,’ " he recalled. “It was the beginning of the ’90s and it was at the time that I was doing lots of shows and covers and a lot of the girls had short hair, and we were moving from the big frou-frou ’80s into the sharp, more androgynous, business chic of the ’90s.”
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In a surprising move, she said, " ‘Well, why don’t you just cut it off now?’ So I cut it off then and we never looked back,” McKnight shared.
McKnight also remembered another royal highlight of his career: when Princess Diana met his mother during a visit to a factory near the Scottish village where his mom lived.
“My mum and her friends were standing outside and [Diana] had never met my mum before. So, I think the story goes, one of my mum’s friends shouted out, ‘This is Sam’s mum,’ and for some reason the Princess knew exactly who she was talking about and went over and spoke to her and that made my mum’s day,” he said. “I think for me that was probably the most pride I’ve ever felt in my job.”
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source: people.com
