Scarlet nails made her feel in control

AS THE advice from Mary Greenwell and Sam McKnight took hold, Diana began to grow more confident in her new look.

One of her most memorable appearances — at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1994 wearing the famous ‘revenge dress’, a daring off-the-shoulder, figure-hugging number by Christina Stambolian — shows her starting to crystallise what was to become her signature style in the final years of her life.

Hair short and swept back, up and over the ears, Diana is both sexy and dynamic, her no-nonsense crop a sharp contrast to the very daring black silk dress.

Her make-up is perfect: flattering yet understated, the blue of her eyes emphasised by the black on her waterline. Never one to shy from bright colours — particularly reds — she wears the high gloss scarlet nail polish, almost certainly Revlon Red, that now becomes a kind of trademark.

A few months later, she flashed her elegant red manicure launching the Child Bereavement Trust at the Royal College of Nursing (right).

The Princess is the picture of health and self-confidence. She is also completely and finally in control.

Tanned and toned, her make-up flawless, she projects exactly what she wants the viewer to think: here is a woman who, at last, seems to have both a sense of self and purpose in life, and who, having just turned 6, is at last coming into her own.

It’s just a shame that she never got to prove herself right.