The heartthrob of the 80s and 90s, Princess Diana was far from predictable. Apart from her charismatic personality, Diana was known for her iconic short hairstyle. 23 years after her tragic demise, her hairstylist has now revealed the real story behind her decision to cut her hair short.
Diana’s longtime personal hairstylist Sam McKnight was the person behind this world-famous hairstyle. This is the first time he has spoken openly about how he was blown away by the Princess of Wales.
Sam McKnight gave the Princess of Wales her iconic bob haircut when he met her for the first time, which she wore for the last years of her life.
“The first time I met the Princess of Wales, she was on shooting. This tall blonde comes jumping up the stairs and extends her hand and introduces herself. She smiles and melts us all and we knew this was Princess Diana,” Sam recalls.
Sam had no idea he’d be styling Diana’s hair that day until the princess walked in. All he knew was that he would be working with someone important.
After a really beautiful day of shooting, Diana asked McKnight how he would style her hair if she let him do anything.”I said I’d cut it all off and start again because it was the early 90’s and it was a time when I was covering a lot of shows and magazines and many of the girls had short hair.”
It was the time when the fashion industry was moving from the big frou-frou 80s into the sharp, more androgynous, business glamour of the 90s.
In a surprisingly divided decision, Diana allowed Sam to do so, saying: “Well, why don’t you cut it now?”
“So I cut them off then and we never looked back,” said McKnight.
McKnight remained her personal stylist from the 1990s until Diana’s death. He considers her his most remarkable work experience and the most humble person he’d ever met.
“I think for me that was probably the most pride I’ve ever felt in my job.”
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