Princess Diana’s iconic swimwear is making a comeback for a reason.
The casual attire she chose for her last summer while cruising the Mediterranean on various sun-drenched vacations with Prince William, Prince Harry and new boyfriend Dodi Fayed was symbolic in more ways than one.
Gone are the fancy designer dresses (after literally just selling them at a high-profile auction at Christie’s in Manhattan earlier that year) and embracing a new phase in her life following her divorce from Prince Charles, the summer of 1997 was a time of tailoring metamorphosis for the princess, as shown in the opening episodes of the sixth season Crown.
“If you look at the wedding dress, which is huge and very exaggerated, and then you get to the revenge dress and then you take it right down to the bathing suits,” Sidonie Roberts, one of the show’s costume designers, explains to PEOPLE. “There’s this feeling of exposing yourself and letting yourself open up. There is a real denouement. We said it [was] like a cocooned butterfly.”
Princess Diana in St Tropez on July 20, 2023.
Lionel Cironneau/AP Photo
That fateful summer, just months before her death in Paris on August 31, Princess Diana was seen in a perfectly curated collection of swimwear (a crew member confirms she packed very little else!). Many of them were custom-made by Israeli brand Gottex, whose founder Leah Gottlieb met the princess in London and offered to get her some unique pieces for her upcoming trip to St. Tropez where she was supposed to spend time in Dodi’s father Mohammed Al Fayed’s yacht.
The opening episode of the sixth season of the Netflix drama shows just that. Wearing a mix of trendy one-piece swimwear, from glamorous leopard print to vibrant lime green and purple ombre, actress Elizabeth Debicki brilliantly showcases Diana’s new less-is-more approach, wearing swimwear created by the same brand.
The look was so iconic that Gottex recently launched a limited edition of Diana’s leopard design, which the royals wore to try to keep the paparazzi’s gaze away from their children during their first trip to the south of France with Al Fayed, in a scene recreated on the show. The “Diana” collection features two versions of the animal print design, with prices starting at $160.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2)/princess-diana-the-crown-swimsuit-sales-112023-2-068d42ec93ba44cfb38b1ff396385a4f.jpg)
Princess Diana in a Gottex leopard print swimsuit in the summer of 1997.
Michel Dufour/WireImage
In another scene from the first episode of the final season (episode 2 premiered on December 14), Diana is seen in a low-back Tiffany blue swimsuit with her back to the camera, recreating one of the last and most moving paparazzi images of Diana. Caught in a moment of reflection, perched at the end of the diving board on Fayed’s yacht looking out over the endless ocean, it is also the image chosen by Netflix for its cover.
“I really love the blue bathing suit that Diana wears when she goes to the end of the diving board and sits down,” Debicki recently said. Harper’s Bazaar, pass; “There was something about that swimsuit and recreating that moment that felt very sacred and important, and it was very important that we get it right.”
A testament to the longevity of her style status, the one-piece swimsuits have been flying off the shelves since the new season premiered. According to Google, searches for “one piece swimsuit” jumped 176% worldwide and 333% in the US. Searches for “blue swimsuit” also increased by 158% worldwide and a whopping 846% in the US
According to Jacques Azagury, her favorite designer during the last decade of her life, the style change we saw during those last months was a long time coming.
“It was the time of the supermodel and everyone was wearing more form-fitting dresses, and she was super fit,” the Moroccan-born, London-based designer tells PEOPLE. “After her marriage broke up, she rediscovered herself and turned into an incredibly stunning woman, that’s when her personality really started to shine.”
Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to receive the latest news on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
On whether he thinks the moments they shared nearly 40 years ago seem like a lifetime ago, he shakes his head: “No, it seems like yesterday because she’s ever-present and still so prominent.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education