Princess Diana’s final months were a period of huge change as she embraced life after her divorce – and it was a suggestion from her eldest son, Prince William, that helped inspire one of her most memorable final trips.
Pics: Getty Pics:
In the summer of 1997, Princess Diana appeared to be entering a new chapter. Her marriage to the then Prince Charles was over, she was forging a life outside the confines of the Royal Family and increasingly devoting her time to the charitable causes closest to her heart.
And one place reportedly offered the Princess something she had been craving: freedom. New York City, a place where she had long enjoyed a particularly warm relationship with the public.
Just two months before her tragic death in Paris on August 31, 1997, Diana visited NYC.
Behind the trip was a surprisingly personal connection to her eldest son, Prince William, who had helped inspire Diana to part with dozens of the spectacular dresses that had defined her years as a senior royal.
William’s suggestion that inspired Diana
By 1997, Diana had accumulated an extraordinary wardrobe of designer gowns worn to state occasions, royal tours and glittering engagements around the world.
Yet according to William, his mother had become frustrated by the sheer number of clothes filling her cupboards.
Speaking in the 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, William recalled walking through her wardrobe and seeing just how much she had accumulated.
“My mother loved her fashion, she loved her clothes, but she wasn’t a slave to it,” he said.
“I remember walking around her cupboards and there were just so many dresses and so many clothes,” he continued. “And she got so fed up with all the clothes in the cupboards, believe it or not. And I said, ‘Why don’t you give the clothes away? Why don’t you do something charitable with it?’”
Diana took her teenage son’s suggestion seriously, putting 79 of her dresses up for auction at Christie’s in New York, raising a reported $3.25 million for cancer and AIDS charities.
Letting go of her old royal life
The sale was about much more than clearing out Diana’s wardrobe.
It came less than a year after her divorce from Charles was finalised in August 1996 and symbolised her decision to leave parts of her former royal existence behind.
Diana travelled to New York in June 1997 and attended a preview party and reception ahead of the auction, although she did not attend the sale itself.
Martin Nolan of Julien’s Auctions has described the auction as “liberating and cathartic” for the Princess because she was letting go of the period in which she had been HRH.
“And now she was free. She was liberated. She wasn’t married anymore,” he said.
The choice of New York was significant, too. Diana could have staged the sale in London, but according to Nolan, her affection for the American city – and the affection she received in return – made it a natural choice.
Why Diana felt free in New York
At home, Diana’s every move, outfit and decision had been scrutinised for years. Following the breakdown of her marriage, the attention became even more intense.
New York offered something different.
Nolan said Diana felt “so loved, so appreciated, so adored” there, without being judged or expected to conform to traditional ideas about how a royal woman should behave.
He added: “New Yorkers didn’t care about that. New Yorkers wanted glamour, and if you’ve got it, flaunt it—and I think that’s what she loved about New York.”
For Princess Diana, the city seemingly became a place where she could enjoy being herself rather than constantly worrying about royal expectations.
New York “represented freedom” to her, Nolan said, adding that it was somewhere “she felt the love” and could have fun again.
The trip that changed Diana’s relationship with America
Diana’s connection with New York stretched back years. One of her most significant visits came in February 1989, when she undertook a solo royal tour of the city.
During the visit, Diana famously met patients with AIDS at a Harlem hospital, as well as spending time with disadvantaged children and attending a gala dinner.
Her willingness to physically engage with people – rather than keeping the traditional distance historically associated with royalty – became one of the defining characteristics of her public life.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton later said: “She marked a turning point in the way the royal family behaved, and through her behavior helped to modernize and make more human the royal family.”
He added: “So it wasn’t big handbags, white gloves, and [being] standoffish. It was more touchy-feely than it had ever been in the past. So she made the royal family more relevant to modern times.”
Diana’s favourite New York hideaway
There was also one particular place Diana returned to during her visits: The Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
She became closely associated with the luxury hotel and reportedly had her own preferred suite there.
Intriguingly, William would later follow in his mother’s footsteps.
When he and the Princess of Wales, then the Duchess of Cambridge, visited New York in 2014, they also stayed at The Carlyle.
Former hotel communications director Jennifer Cooke said William had heard about the hotel through the years because of his mother and that the couple were “really happy to be here”.
Diana was ‘starting to embrace life again’
Looking back, Diana’s June 1997 trip is especially poignant.
Weeks later, she celebrated her 36th birthday. On August 31, she was killed following a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris.
Yet those who have reflected on her relationship with New York have painted a picture of a woman who, during those final months, was beginning to enjoy her independence.
Nolan said Diana was “starting to embrace life again and enjoy the freedom” after a period in which there had been little fun for her.
Her decision to sell the dresses that represented so many moments from her royal past therefore carried a powerful symbolism.
And remarkably, the idea had begun with William simply looking at his mother’s overflowing cupboards and suggesting she put them to good use.
The result was millions raised for charity – and a final New York visit that appeared to represent exactly what Diana wanted from the next chapter of her life: independence, acceptance and the freedom to be herself.
