Princess Diana’s Biggest Media Scandals Over the Years

Princess Diana is undeniably one of the biggest icons of our time. The Princess of Wales, Diana Spencer, was known as the “People’s Princess” and there’s a good reason for that — she was unlike any Royal before her, and she showed who she truly was in everything she did. Whether it was her humanitarian work or her motherly acts, the public loved how kind and personable she was. But that doesn’t mean her every move was well-received — by her fellow Royal family members, or by members of the media.

In fact, it’s almost impossible to discuss Princess Diana without discussing the media treatment that went on to define her life in the royal eye, all the way up to her 1997 death after being chased by paparazzi through the streets of Paris. Hounded by paparazzi, Diana had virtually no privacy from the moment she began seeing Prince Charles — the tabloids couldn’t get enough of the charismatic young ingénue here to reinvigorate the royal family. But with their fascination came a steep price: for every article that praised her charm and grace, there were a handful of others that picked apart her deviations from royal norms and anything else they might be able to sell as “scandal,” treatment that only intensified after her ultimate divorce from Charles.

Wore a dress that showed her shoulders? Scandalous. Wanted her kids to go to school outside the Palace? Scandalous. You get the idea. Diana was a free spirit, a fiercely loving mother, and determined to make the choices for herself, her family, and the world around her that she felt were right, whether or not they complied with palace norms — and that led to a lot of headlines making Diana out to be a traitor, an embarrassment, or a fake (headlines we’d all see iterations of referring to Meghan Markle just a few decades later).

While Meghan is publicly waging war against the tabloids that treated her unfairly (and making impressive headway in those legal battles), Diana’s struggle against the media that maligned her was largely behind closed doors. Knowing what we know about the toll that these media campaigns can take, let’s take a look back at all the most outrageous moments that the media dubbed a “scandal” during Princess Diana’s life.

A version of this article was previously published in December 2021.

She Talked About Politics

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Diana frequently was attacked by the media for her humanitarian acts, but that didn’t stop her. From raising awareness about the AIDS crisis to speaking up about the dangers of landmines, Diana wanted to help everyone.
She Shook Hands With AIDS Patients

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Princess Diana did a revolutionary act by shaking hands with someone who had AIDS, something unheard of when the crisis was at its peak. At the time, there was so much misinformation that people thought that if you even touched someone with AIDS, you’d get it. Diana decided to help clear the misinformation with her hands-on visits to AIDS wards, and again, was pegged as “rebellious” by the media for it.
She Gave a Tell-All Interview About Her Marriage

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Diana broke royal protocol once again by allowing the BBC into her home to record her infamous Panorama tell-all interview in 1995. The interview took place towards the end of her divorce proceedings with Prince Charles, and she was more candid about their marriage than anyone in the history of the royal family had been to a reporter, sharing details about Charles’ affair with Camilla, her own infidelity, her struggles with bulimia, and the anxiety she felt from the Royal family’s strict rules. This interview was also when she shared the famous line about Charles and Camilla: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
She Dated Millionaire Dodi Fayed

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Diana got a lot of flack from the media for getting serious with the millionaire playboy Dodi Al-Fayed after her divorce from Prince Charles. Part of the “scandal” stemmed from the fact that they met at a polo match in 1986 while Diana was still married to Charles. But there was a lot more to it than that.

Fayed’s family ties and business were constantly scrutinized by tabloid media, and there was even a suggestion that the couple wasn’t as serious as they appeared to be in photos. Plus, tabloid’s definitely leaned in to Fayed’s reputation as a playboy, questioning his intentions with Diana constantly. The pair were, however, wildly in love until their fateful end.

Both the media and the Royal family had a lot to say about the relationship. Both called it scandalous due to Fayed’s alleged philandering and that they met while Diana was still with Charles.
She Broke Royal Fashion Protocol

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Like many aspects of being a Royal, there are a number of rules when it comes to what you can wear. Per Reader’s Digest, the biggest fashion rules are wearing bright colors to stand out, always wearing pantyhose, no mini skirts — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Although Diana was always seen as a style icon, that didn’t necessarily stop the royal family or tabloids from scrutinizing her looks. Whether it was wearing a strapless dress, a sheer skirt, or even just her engagement ring (judged by some as too opulent), some of Diana’s most beloved outfits were often seen as controversial. Even wearing a Philadelphia Eagles jacket was pegged as too different from royal protocol. While the Princess of Wales was ready to mimic the modern times and contemporary style of the moment, many thought she should be more traditional.
She Stepped Out in a ‘Revenge Dress’

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If you hear Princess Diana’s name, chances are you’ve heard the story about the revenge dress. Diana wore this silk dress designed by Christina Stambolian to a 1994 dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. It was dubbed the “revenge dress” after Prince Charles’ explosive tell-all interview came out, in which he admitted that he cheated on Diana with Camilla Parker-Bowles. Everyone lost it when she wore it, for good and bad reasons.

While some thought it was a defiant yet subtle sartorial response to Charles’ admission of infidelity, others thought it was too on-the-nose, and potentially a bit immature of the Princess of Wales to even put on such a display with her marriage falling apart. Either way, the dress has gone down in history.
She Sunbathed Topless

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The media was consistently grossly obsessed with getting topless photos of Princess Diana. And then, after they got photos, they’d plaster them everywhere and shame her for being topless. Photos have been taken of her topless on a girl’s vacation after her divorce in 1996 and again in 1997 with Dodi Fayed on his yacht.

The Princess of Wales was constantly scrutinized for her actions, but especially following her divorce. It reminds some royal fans of when photos of Kate Middleton sunbathing topless were circulated. It just goes to show that Diana never had any privacy, which contributed to the more tragic details of her story.
She Didn’t Promise to “Obey”

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Let us explain: Per Reader’s Digest, in royal wedding vows, it’s typical for the women to say the line that they “promise to obey” their husbands. Um…in what world? Diana had the same idea as us and decided to leave that out of her vows.

It had been a tradition in other royal weddings, including Queen Elizabeth II’s, to say the phrase. It was one of the earliest signs that Diana was willing to buck tradition. But as with everything she did, the inconsequential decision only heightened the scrutiny on the young princess.
She Chose Non-Royal Baby Names

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Royal protocol dictates that the mother should name her children after someone already in the Royal bloodline, dating back to the 1400s, per Yahoo. But Diana didn’t want that — she wanted to name her babies herself. She compromised and let Charles name their middle names after late relatives of his.
She Dared to Go Through a Divorce

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When news broke that Diana and Charles were divorcing in 1996, every single outlet was speculating what had happened. “Was it Charles fault? Was it Diana’s rebellion?” — that’s all anyone saw on the newsstands.
She Gave Birth Outside of The Palace

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Not only did Diana break protocol with her babies’ names, but she also gave birth outside of the palace — in a hospital to be exact. The media and the Royals deemed her as a “rebel” for doing so, despite her being adamantly open about the fact that she wanted her boys to have a “normal” life.
She Was an Active Mama

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As previously stated, Diana wanted her baby boys to have a normal life, despite being British royalty. Instead of letting her children be raised by etiquette sessions and a string of nannies, Diana wanted to be (and was) a very active mother. You’d think no one would have an issue with it, but the media called her so many names, saying she was “controlling” or “overbearing.” She just wanted to be an active mom. She traveled with them, dropped and picked them up from school, taught them different things, and played with them.
She Went to School Events

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Let’s keep riding the normal train: Diana also enrolled her children in a school where they could interact with non-royals, the Wetherby Preparatory School in Notting Hill, London — which was headline news for a very long time, but Diana was adamant about helping her children lead normal lives. Along with that, she participated in the events with the other moms to show how fun the royal family could be.
She Showed Her Sons Real World Issues

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Diana was passionate about the homelessness crisis and made sure her sons were shown the real-life effects of homelessness up close. Royalty was only ever to donate money or show up to events, and seeing, participating, and speaking about political issues was rare. But Diana didn’t care: she wanted to show her boys what was happening in the world. Of course, the media called it scandalous and unjustly questioned her parenting skills.