The costume designer from The Crown discussed recreating some of Princess Diana’s most memorable looks for the small screen – including her famous ‘revenge dress’ – in an interview with The Times.
The late Princess of Wales wore a black Christina Stambolian mini dress to the Vanity Fair party at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1994.
It was that evening, King Charles admitted to infidelity in a television documentary, admitting what he had said but saying it only happened as soon as the marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
According to Princess Diana’s close friend Anna Harvey, who was quoted in a 1997 Vogue article, the royal initially feared the mini black dress would be “too daring” and planned to wear the Valentino design to the event, but after learning about the documentary her ex-husband, wanted to “look like a million dollars” on a difficult evening.
Now the look has been recreated for the fifth series of The Crown, and Sidonie Roberts, buyer and assistant costume designer for the Netflix show, told the publication that the look represents “the birth of an icon for women around the world.”
‘Revenge dress’: Diana, Princess of Wales wore this black Christina Stambolian mini dress to the Vanity Fair party at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1994 (pictured)
The outfit, including a pearl necklace with a large sapphire, was recreated for the Netflix royal drama (pictured: Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Princess Diana in the fifth series of The Crown)
Sidonie, who oversaw the re-creation of the fashion moment, said: “We cannot overstate its impact.
“In the dress of vengeance we have not only the birth of a new woman, we have the birth of an icon for women all over the world. It was a very powerful moment.”
The look can be seen in the trailer for the fifth series, which will be released on Netflix from November 9.
In a short clip in the trailer, the fictional Diana (played by Elizabeth Debicki) is seen arriving at a summer party at the Serpentine Gallery in June 1994.
That same night, the King’s BBC documentary, Prince Charles: Private Man, Public Role, was shown to the public in an attempt to rebuild his post-divorce reputation.
In an infamous interview, the monarch admitted to journalist Jonathan Dimbleby that he had been unfaithful in his marriage – but only once did it “break down irretrievably”.
According to Sidonie Roberts, buyer and assistant costume designer for The Crown, recreating the royal family’s well-known outfits involved “a huge amount of research” (pictured: Diana, Princess of Wales at the Serpentine Gallery fundraiser in 1995)
A similar dress was featured in the program but was worn by the actor who played Diana in a scene from one of Diana’s last public appearances when she attended the English National Ballet’s Swan Lake Royal Gala in June 1997 (pictured: Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in the fifth series of “The Crown”)
A black mini dress is just one of the outfits recreated at the show. According to Sidoni, “a great deal of research” goes into recreating the royal family’s famous ensembles.
She told The Times that the production team is aware that “everyone is waiting for these moments” and so they are “trying to do justice to them by being as close to reality as possible”.
Another outfit that may look familiar to royal watchers is a deep beaded blue mini dress, almost identical to the one the princess wore in 1995 to a gala fundraiser for the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park.
However, the scene actually depicts one of Diana’s last public appearances, when she attended the English National Ballet’s Royal Gala performance of Swan Lake in June 1997.
Another iconic look of the royal family was a red coat, which she paired with black trousers and a blue baseball cap during a skiing holiday in Leh in 1994 (pictured)
The trailer shows a fictional version of the royal family wearing a very similar red down jacket and blue beanie (pictured: Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Princess Diana in the fifth series of The Crown)
Also missing from the Royal Albert Hall stage is the pearl and diamond necklace that became so synonymous with the engagement that 20 years later it was auctioned off as the ‘Swan Lake necklace’ for £10 million.
Another outfit seen in the trailer that echoes one of Diana’s famous looks is one she wore during a skiing holiday in Leh in 1994, where she paired a blue baseball cap with a red puffer jacket.
Also touching on the process of creating original costumes, Sidonie said that putting together costumes for off-camera outfits can be more difficult than recreating actor Elizabeth Debicka’s famous look in the series.
Last year it was announced that Elizabeth would take over from Emma Corrine to play Diana in series five and six, which will cover Diana’s death in 1997.
The actress said of her casting last year: “The spirit of Princess Diana, her words and actions live on in the hearts of many. It is a great privilege and honor to join this masterful series, which has completely captivated me since the first episode.”
