DIOR

Lady Dior just for Diana

ORIGINALLY a diplomatic gift from a visit to Paris in 1995, the Lady Dior bag was a major score for the French LVMH luxury company.

If not exactly designed for her, the cane-patterned, patent bag with its gilt hardware and double handles was a prototype only Diana could initially be seen with.

Rather than being simply delivered by a Christian Dior PR, however, the bag was presented to Diana by Bernadette, wife of French President Jacques Chirac, at the Grand Palais in Paris.

It was the fateful year of Diana’s Panorama interview and her marriage was well and truly over. Any qualms she once had about being seen with foreign-made fashion brands were fast fading.

When Dior speedily rolled out the bag to its stores, Diana stocked up with plenty more. She is seen above with a black one in 1996.

The popularity of the bag, now re-christened Lady Dior, skyrocketed, and it became a best-selling house classic. It is still available for about £3,000 today.