Diana on display
2005-11-23 11:29
London - A handful of never before-seen photographs from Princess Diana's last fashion shoot are going on display at Kensington Palace, her old home.
Photographer Mario Testino took the set of 15 photos for Vanity Fair magazine in 1997, five months before Diana died in a car crash in Paris. In the photos, seven of which have never been published or exhibited, Diana wears dresses she planned to auction for charity later that year.
"The images were taken to publicise the auction," said Sarah Watson, a spokesperson for the event on Tuesday. The New York auction raised £5.7m for charity.
Several of the intimate photos show Diana smiling with her hands on her hips. Others have her reclining in strapless evening gowns.
The informal photos show a happy, relaxed Diana, said Beatrice Behlen, a curator of the Kensington Palace dress collection.
"They remind me of when you want to go to a party and you're trying on different outfits, and someone is taking a few snaps - a few really good snaps," she said. "They don't look like a photo shoot."
Di's dresses also on display
Nine of Diana's dresses, including the four she wears in Testino's photographs, are also on display. Eight of the dresses have been on exhibited at Kensington Palace before.
An off-white, one-sleeve dress embroidered with mirrored glass beads and crystals has never been publicly displayed. The dress, by Japanese designer Hachi, is on six-month loan from a fashion museum in Chile that will open next year.
Although Diana first wore the off-white Hachi in 1983, its style reflects the clothes she wore later in life, said Beatrice Behlen.
"It's quite significant because at the time she used to wear very frilly, princess-y things," Behlen said. "When she came out in this dress, there was a lot of public comment."
The exhibition opens Thursday and continues until July 1 2007.
A 144-page book, Diana, Princess of Wales by Testino accompanies the exhibition.
- AP