Princess Diana's humorous response to a photographer's compliment in 1987 has gone viral after archive news footage from an official royal visit to Germany resurfaced on TikTok this week.
The royal has become an increasingly popular focus for viral internet content in recent years, with an increase in posts being made in 2022, the year that marked the 25th anniversary of the princess' untimely death after a Paris car crash.
The princess was also a prominent subject in two of the biggest royal media releases of the past year—her younger son, Prince Harry's, six-part docuseries for Netflix released in December, and his 410-page bombshell memoir, which was published in January.
The latest clip of the princess to find a popular audience on social media was captured by news cameras covering her 1987 official visit to Germany with husband, Prince Charles (now King Charles III).
The visit came at an important moment in the royal couple's marriage as rumors of a breakdown in their relationship were circulating in the popular press, with subsequent reports suggesting that he had rekindled his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles (now Queen Camilla) a year earlier.
For a presidential banquet during their Germany visit, Diana made headlines by debuting a new hairstyle, moving away from the feathered style worn during the earlier years of her marriage, to a more modern up-do, which was highlighted by her sparkling diamond headdress, known as the "Spencer tiara."
Uploaded to TikTok by user the.royal.watcher on July 20, Diana's reaction to being complimented on the new hairstyle was caught on camera.
While walking into the dinner, a photographer was heard telling the royal: "I like your hair!" to which she turned around and jauntily adjusted the back of the style appearing to ask: "Is it alright?"
The light-hearted clip was included in much of the retrospective news coverage at the time of the royal's death on August 31, 1997. At the time, Diana had been traveling at speed in a car through Paris with then-boyfriend Dodi Fayed. The car was being pursued by members of the paparazzi and after entering a tunnel, it collided with a pillar of the central reservation, killing the driver and Fayed instantly, with Diana losing her life in hospital some hours later. A bodyguard hired by the Fayed family was the sole survivor of the accident.
The viral TikTok video was viewed over 110,000 times in 24 hours and received in excess of 4,000 likes and numerous comments, some of which praised the late royal.
Diana's appearance at the presidential dinner in Germany was notable at the time for more reasons than just her hairstyle and its position in the timeline of her marriage. It was also the second outing of one of the princess' most famous dresses.
The midnight blue velvet, off-the-shoulder design with intricate pin-tucked pleating across the bodice was designed by British couturier Victor Edelstein, and is best known for its showstopping debut in 1985 for a dinner at the White House.
Charles and Diana were having dinner with the Reagans when the royal first wore the famous dress and caused a media sensation as she was photographed being twirled around the dancefloor on the evening by movie star John Travolta.
Since that night, the dress was nicknamed the "Travolta Dress."
Diana wore the dress a second time in Germany and then again in 1988. The royal took the decision in 1997 to auction the gown along with a collection of her most famous dresses for charity at the suggestion of Prince William.
The collection went under the hammer with Christie's auction house on June 25, 1997, and the Travolta dress was listed as lot number 79.
The gown reached the highest sale price of the whole collection, with a private collector paying a $222,500 hammer price. It was subsequently sold in 2013 and entered the auction market again in 2019, where it was finally acquired by Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that operates the princess' former home of Kensington Palace as a visitor attraction, for over $300,000.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
