On March 4, two white-gloved curators hung a portrait of the late Princess Diana on the walls of kensington palace. While posthumous photos of royalty are by no means uncommon (keep in mind that Lady Diin the 1990s, she was one of the most photographed women and even 30 years later, her images abound daily on the Internet).
The curious thing about this case is that the portrait was taken by David Bailey in 1988. It is a black and white photo that stands out for its minimalism, simply showing the profile of Diana staring straight ahead.
This photo of Princess Diana it lacks the formality and grandeur of royal portraits of the past, such as those by the famous Cecil Beaton. The most curious thing is that we had never seen it before: while many of Diana’s photos were acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in the 1980s, it was kept for years in Bailey’s private collection.
The never-before-seen portrait of Diana of Wales
The Historic Royal Palacesa non-profit organization committed to maintaining the Kensington Palace, acquired the photo for a new exhibition, entitled ‘Life Through A Royal Lens’an exhibition that is responsible for highlighting the portraits of the Windsor family.
And so, a new image of the princess is added to the cultural canon. Diana was known for her shocking ease in giving the world incredible images: a photo of her shaking hands with a patient with HIV/AIDS in Londonfor example, helped remove the stigma of the disease during the height of that health crisis, while a photo of her walking through a field of landmines in Angola helped raise awareness in the world about human rights.
Then there are also the images that epitomize glamor and, well, scandal: take for example the LBD that Diana wore after Prince Charles admitted to an affair on national television, now cemented in pop culture like the ‘dress of revenge’. (This garment even has its own Wikipedia page.) Similarly, it is worth remembering her wedding dress, with puffed sleeves and a train of almost 8 meters.
Article originally published in US Vogue, vogue.com.