Rare mistake she cringed at

Emanuel, 1985

DeSPITe her model-like figure, Diana didn’t always get it right: this checked coat was dubbed ‘ the horse blanket’ by the Press.

Inspired by the flappers of the Roaring Twenties, its padded shoulders were the height of fashion in the eighties.

Yet it swamped the pitifully thin Princess, who was blighted by eating disorders during this early phase of her royal life.

‘I thought my bulimia was secret, but quite a few of the people in the house recognised it was going on — but nobody mentioned it,’ she once said. ‘They all thought it was quite amusing that I ate so much but never put any weight on.’

Designed by David and elizabeth emanuel, who famously also made her wedding dress, the wool coat, with its matching broad-brim hat, was worn by Diana for an official visit to Venice in 1985. She and Charles stayed on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The coat was never seen in public again — little surprise given that Diana always pored over the reviews of what she wore.

Fascinatingly, it seems that Diana gave the coat to a charity shop near the Queen’s private residence at Sandringham, where it was bought by an anonymous member of the public 20 years ago.

The buyer eventually sold it at auction in 2016, when it was bought by Historic Royal Palaces who are now displaying it for the first time.

The coat’s provenance has been confirmed by the original designers.