The 'Scandalous' Outfit Princess Diana Wasn't Happy With
Before she began dating Prince Charles, Lady Diana Spencer had a number of jobs, including nursery teacher's assistant at the Young England School in Pimlico, London. (She was what we might call a preschool aide nowadays.) In late summer 1980, when the press got wind that then-Prince Charles had a new girlfriend, they began targeting the school where she worked, according to the Daily Mail. The owner of the school, Diana, and the press made a deal: Diana would pose for photos if the press left the school and its community alone.
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The next day, photos of the then-19-year-old were splashed across the newspapers, showing a fresh-faced Diana wearing a Laura Ashley skirt that had the sunlight behind it, making it appear see-through and — scandal — no slip in sight. According to Arthur Edward, one of the photographers there that day, as seen in the 2017 documentary, "The Diana Story," the future princess was "horrified." As Edward later told Today of the moment, "I didn't do it on purpose, I promise. I didn't do it to embarrass her, but it was such a good picture you couldn't not publish it."
Nowadays, sheer skirts are de rigueur, but back in 1980, they weren't commonplace or appropriate — especially not for someone dating the future King of England.
Kate Middleton also had a sheer mishap
Fast-forward to 2017 and sheer is everywhere. That didn't let Catherine, Princess of Wales off the hook, however. While the princess has channeled Diana's fashion a number of times, we don't believe she had her late mother-in-law in mind when she had a see-through scandal of her own. (And no, it's not the sheer dress that Kate wore at a 2002 St. Andrews University runway show where she infamously caught Prince William's attention.)
No, Kate wore this translucent dress in June 2017 at the Royal Ascot, aka the week of horse races with the royals as honored guests, The then-Duchess donned a lacy Alexander McQueen. Though the frock looked innocuous with its high neckline, long sleeves, and conservative below-the-knee length, when photographers captured the princess with the sun at her back — very reminiscent of the innocent context of Diana's situation — the backlit dress showed the outline of Kate's silhouette. Unsurprisingly, some members of the press gave her grief, while others loved it. Of course, in hindsight, this certainly wasn't Kate's only inappropriate outfit to date.