Fashion

Style ID: Princess Diana’s royal wardrobe in ‘The Crown’ Season 5

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16.11.2022

By Phyll Wu

Images courtesy of Netflix, SSense, Net-A-Porter, and respective brands
Style ID: Princess Diana’s royal wardrobe in ‘The Crown’ Season 5

After two years of waiting with bated breath, the much-anticipated season five of The Crown has finally aired on Netflix, and actress Emma Corrin has passed the baton to Elizabeth Debicki to play an older, and much wiser Princess Diana. This season retells the turbulent events that unfolded in the ‘90s, which involves the princess’ marriage with Prince Charles that quickly spiralled into a royal mess. Whilst the story’s accuracy in the show is certainly dubious, to say the least, The Crown’s costume department absolutely nailed their recreations of the late princess’ impeccable ensembles. From the notorious “revenge dress” to her signature oversized sweater outfits, we go through all of Princess Diana’s trend-setting and history-making looks donned by Debicki this season.

 

 

Episode 1: ‘Queen Victoria Syndrome’

In Princess Diana’s first appearance this season, she wore a floral-print dress as she was heading to what was dubbed as her “second honeymoon” in Italy with Prince Charles. The original dress worn by the late princess in 1992 was designed by Bellville Sassoon.

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For her second look in the episode, she donned a tan button-down top with a matching skirt and belt, likely inspired by a similar ensemble worn by the princess on her Egypt trip in 1992.

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Whilst things turned sour with Prince Charles on the boat, the princess’ outfit certainly did not. She was dressed in a recreation of the chic leopard print swimsuit set from Princess Diana’s Necker Island trip in 1990.

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Episode 2: ‘The System’

The second episode saw the princess in an all-red suit whilst she was visiting a local hospital, which is a replica of the late princess’ ensemble at the National English Ballet school in 1995.

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A signature piece in Princess Diana’s wardrobe, the iconic oversized Harvard sweater.

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Here, she’s dressed in yet another recreation of an iconic piece—the red balloon sweater. In 1988, the princess paired the oversized sweater with a blazer, and topped off with a cap.

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Episode 3: ‘Mou Mou’

Nearing the end of episode three, Princess Diana meets Mohamed Al-Fayed for the first time, dressed in an exact replica of the lilac suit and pearls ensemble that the princess wore in real life at the American Red Cross Headquarters in June 1997.

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Episode 5: ‘The Way Ahead’

The look of all looks donned by Princess Diana—the infamous and unmistakable revenge dress. Recreated almost identically, the original dress was designed by Christina Stambolian.

Fun fact: The late Princess Diana had actually owned the dress for several years and was initially planning to wear a Valentino gown to Vanity Fair’s fundraising dinner at Serpentine Gallery in 1994. Prompted by Prince Charles’ public admission of infidelity two days prior, she pulled out the dress at the very last minute and made history.

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Episode 7: ‘No Woman’s Land’

In the Diana-centric episode, it opens with the princess at a fancy gala, wearing a recreation of the stunning white sequined dress that she donned in real life at a charity dinner in 1996.

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On Prince William’s first day of school at Eton in 1995, the late princess dropped off her son in a blue blazer and black dress ensemble, which the show accurately recreated for the scene.

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Heading to visit her brother Earl Spencer, the show dressed the princess in a recreation of the red puffer jacket and blue baseball cap outfit from Princess Diana’s skiing trip at Lech, Austria, in 1994.

 

 

In the hospital scene where the princess meets her boyfriend, Hasnat Khan, for the first time, she dons a yellow dress over a black turtleneck and finished with a thin black belt. Whilst not identical, the outfit closely resembles a similar orange suit look that Princess Diana wore in 1995.

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Amongst her many visits to the hospital to see Khan, one of her outfits was a recreation of the green blouse and skirt set that the late princess wore to meet French president Francois Mitterrand and his wife Danielle in 1992.

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Another outfit for her visit, the show recreated the green checked blazer and matching turtleneck look from Princess Diana’s vacation with Prince William in 1993.

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Episode 8: ‘Gunpowder’

And finally, the unforgettable Martin Bashir interview. From her hair to her outfit to the moment as a whole, The Crown recreated flawlessly.

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Episode 10: ‘Decommissioned’

Last but not least, the season finale saw the princess attending a Royal Gala Performance of Swan Lake at London’s Royal Albert Hallin, adorned in a sequined blue halter neck dress. In real life, Princess Diana wore a similar dress by designer Jacques Azagury to the ballet show in 1997, whilst The Crown recreated the Catherine Walker dress that she was spotted in at Serpentine Gallery in 1995.

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