Princess Diana's Iconic Hair Transformation

When she stepped out of her car, everyone knew instantly who’d arrived. Princess Diana: a style icon in the 1980s and ’90s, not least for the ways she styled her blonde locks. You can probably picture a pixie or a bob on the late and beloved royal. But do you remember when her hair was long, or when she had a near-mullet of curls? It’s easy to forget that her hairstyles changed a lot over the years — so much so that you may not recognize her in some of her earliest photos...

1963: How it all began

In 1963 Diana was around two years old and had chin-length blonde locks. Those cute bangs across her forehead allowed the world to see her face, right down to her very rosy cheeks. Though given that this was long before she met Prince Charles and became a princess, the public probably weren’t paying her much attention anyway!

Baby style icon

With a bit more finessing, Diana’s hair matched the go-to flipped-out ’do of the 1960s. It’s funny to see the two-year-old with hair that echoed the must-have style of the time. Little did anyone know she’d grow up to create the trends, cutting her hair into styles that inspired other women to have the same look.

1964: Her first bob

Diana’s hair grew long throughout the 1960s and ’70s, but she never really let it get to that length in her adult years. Perhaps her parents already knew that short hair suited their daughter more than long, flowing locks. She wouldn’t veer too far from this look as she grew up.

Baby carriage

Funnily enough, this photo is from the same year. Here, Diana is pushing a baby carriage around in Norfolk, turning around just in time to face the camera for a photo. You may notice that she has bangs. But they’re not those breezy curtain ones of her royal years — they’re blunt and cut straight across.

1965: A forehead foreshadowing 

This adorable photo of Diana from 1965 makes it look like the then-four-year-old has side-swept bangs, the style for which she became famous in the 1980s. She certainly had an off-center part, and whoever combed her hair to the side made her bangs lie that way, too.

Shifting direction

This picture, on the other hand, comes from 1967 — by which time the future princess’ hair had changed quite a bit. Not only does it seem to be a tad longer, but her bangs had yet again shifted direction. Rather than floating off to the side, they had been cut blunt and straight across her forehead — a look she’d rock again in 30 years’ time.

1969: Adorable accessories

Like most other girls her age, the young Diana didn’t just wear her hair down. No, the then-eight-year-old would style her long locks into cutesy pigtails, as seen in this photo. And she topped it all off with a bright red headband, which matched her cherry-colored collared dress.

Custody battle

Diana wore a headband to her grandparents’ golden wedding ceremony in 1969 as well. Although her parents were together for a long time, it was a tumultuous union. They divorced in 1967, but it took them two more years to decide who got custody of the children. Eventually, her father, John, won the battle.

1971: Girly long locks

As a young girl, the future Princess of Wales had hair very different from the cropped locks that made her a style icon in the 1980s and ’90s. Here, beneath a floppy black hat, we see her longest golden tresses, which stretched past her shoulders and collarbone. She looks practically unrecognizable!

Boarding school life

Of course, Diana’s unfussy long hair probably matched the styles sported by her peers at the time. In 1971 she would have been in her pre-teens and one year into her time at an all-girls boarding school called Riddlesworth Hall, located in Norfolk, England. Diana was apparently very anxious about going there and begged her father if she could stay at home.

1974: Longer locks

Here, Diana is entering her teen years, and as you can see, her hair is getting shorter and more layered. The main difference from some of her later looks is the color. It's a lot darker than how we're used to seeing her. But if this photo tells us anything, it's that Diana must have used a nice-smelling shampoo! That pony can't get enough of it!

No diploma

Like most other teenagers, Diana’s life in the 1970s was a series of ups and downs. She struggled with school and exams, leaving West Heath Girls’ School without a diploma. But in 1975 she did inherit the title of “Lady” when her father took possession of the family’s Althorp estate to become Earl Spencer.

1980: The bob that landed her a boyfriend

In 1980, Diana was a teenager with a feathered bob haircut. While this 'do was still darker than some of her later looks, you can start to see the buttery highlights on the top and through the fringe. It was this simpler, more natural style that seemed to catch Prince Charles’ eye — and from there she shot from obscurity into the spotlight.

Crossing paths again

The future princess didn’t meet her husband-to-be that year, though. They first crossed paths a little earlier than that in 1977, when Charles courted Diana’s older sister, Sarah. That relationship fizzled out, and three years later the pair met once again. That’s when Charles took notice of the younger Spencer sister, who he invited to come sailing and then on to Balmoral, the family estate. And we all know what happened after that…

1981: A cut fit for a princess

Once Diana became engaged to Charles, she needed a haircut to suit her new role. She decided to go for something quite simple, soft layers sliced into her blonde hair. And later in the year, she added those side-sweeping bangs, which became part of her go-to look for the rest of the decade.

Holding onto herself

Allure editor Linda Wells hypothesized that Diana stuck with this look for so long because of the rigidity that came with royal life. She told The Cut, “It seems like maybe her hair was her way of holding on to herself. We can exaggerate these things, but at the same time, I think women really do express themselves with their hairstyles, especially when they can’t express themselves in other ways.”

1982: Highlighted and happy

At the start of the 1980s, Diana cut side bangs into her hair, and they pretty much remained in place for the rest of the decade. But by 1982, she clearly needed a bit of a change. So, she had more highlights added to her signature crop, brightening up her hair during a very happy time of her life.

Pride and joy

For the first half of 1982, Diana was pregnant with her first child, Prince William. And, after he came into the world on June 21, her life was changed forever. She said of him and his brother, Harry, “I live for my sons. I would be lost without them.” There’s no doubt she would be immensely proud of what they’re doing today.

1983: Hiding under her hair

It’s hard to believe that Diana is only 22 years old in this photo. Her sophisticated styling and cropped hair make her look more mature, but that may have been the look she intended. After all, in 1983 she was a new mother, and she was, of course, also married to the future King of England.

1984: Her longest locks as a royal

You may not remember this, but Princess Diana did once have long-ish hair as an adult. The year was 1984, and she had both a toddler and a newborn on her hands. So, like many other moms, she went for the easiest hairstyle, using bobby pins to hold her shoulder-length tresses away from her face.

Too "princess-y"

In 2020 one of Diana’s hairstylists, Sam McKnight, told The Cut why Diana always went for short hair rather than the long, bouncy curls we think of royal women wearing. She found it “too princess-y,” he revealed, but she also knew the public liked her with shorter hair. “She knew that people wanted to see ‘Princess Diana,’ so that’s what she gave them,” McKnight added.

Hidden in plain sight

Whether Diana wore a hat or let her bangs dangle down, style experts say she chose these styles for a reason. As Allure editor Wells told The Cut, “One of the things that was so associated with Diana was this idea of being hidden in plain sight — her hair was a big part of that.” So, although the color and cut became a bit routine, she could always add a curtain of bangs or an accessory behind which she could hide.

1985: a voluminous crop

Diana’s 1985 hairdo was a return to the familiar for the stylish royal. She got her bangs back, and she gave her hair a boost of volume that made her right on trend with the rest of the ladies of the 1980s. We wonder how much hair spray was holding all that hair up!

A memorable outing

This is the hairstyle that Diana wore on one of the most memorable outings of her royal career. The British princess traveled across the pond and went to the White House, where the then-First Lady Nancy Reagan set her up for a dance with none other than John Travolta. And she took her bouffant ’80s hairdo for a spin — quite literally.

1986: A hint of what’s to come

It’s not quite her famous 1990 pixie, but Princess Diana did shorten her hair late in 1986 — a hint at what her ’do would look like in four years’ time. This iteration is a bit choppier than what she had done in the next decade, however. Her longer, smoother tresses on top give way to very short, almost buzzed locks on the bottom. Perfect for the hot weather!

Against the grain

This haircut, in particular, saw Diana going against the grain as far as 1980s styling went. Many women of the era opted for huge, teased hair — the manes you imagine on glam rockers from the previous decade. But Diana’s short tresses made her silhouette unique and gave fans a better look at her wonderful facial features.

1987: Royal mullet 

Technically, you could call Princess Diana’s hair here a mullet. On the sides, her hair was shorter while, at the back, her tresses fell a bit longer. Still, she managed to make her mini-mullet into something stylish and enviable. It’s a look that’ll probably come back around in the next few years.

Volume galore

From the front, though, you can see that her hair wasn’t quite the widely popularized mullet that ruled the 1980s. She still had plenty of bounce — the style that made her an icon in this decade. And, in the same year, Diana enjoyed a groundbreaking moment as a princess, one that had nothing to do with style. It was in 1987 that she shook hands with an AIDS patient at a London hospital, and she didn’t wear a glove. Journalist Judy Wade called her move “the most important thing a royal’s done in 200 years,” as it broke down the misconception that the disease could be transmitted through such casual contact.

1989: Blonder is better

What’s better than big hair? To Diana in 1989, the answer was, apparently, blonde hair. Her color looks just about as bright as it ever did in this shot from the Queen Mother’s 89th birthday party, which took place on August 4 that year. The warmth of her hair is the perfect contrast to her bright-red coat.

Last of the bouffant

The end of the ’80s marked the last year of Diana’s billowy bouffant. In the next decade, her hairstyle evolved and gave the princess her most iconic look. Even though she was going through a lot in her personal life, her ’do always looked sleek and classic.

1990: The iconic pixie

Diana never planned to have her hair cropped into her famous pixie cut. It all happened while on the set of a photoshoot for British Vogue magazine that year. McKnight, who served as the set’s hairstylist that day, told the U.S. TV show TODAY that she came in and charmed the entire team, putting them at ease with her easy-going personality.

Classic 'do

Diana came into the shoot with shoulder-length, classically bouffant ’80s hair, but McKnight tucked it away for a cleaner, shorter look in the pictures. It seemed that the temporary change had inspired the princess, who asked the stylist what he’d do if she allowed him free rein. He recalled, “I suggested cutting it short and she, to my surprise, agreed, and we did it there and then.” And that’s how one of the most iconic — and copied — haircuts of the 1990s was born.

1992: Curly crown

Although the so-called “Camillagate” tapes came out in 1993, Diana and Charles had already separated the year before. And at that time, the princess had tried to put a lot of body back into her short cut. In this shot, taken while she and her soon-to-be-estranged spouse toured South Korea, her curly crop had been teased up and out, so tall that it nearly hid her glittering tiara.

Infamous photo

Of course, the world could see there was trouble in paradise just as clearly as they could see the crown of curls atop Diana’s head. As her one-time press secretary Dickie Arbiter wrote for the Daily Mail, “At every photo opportunity they would stand apart and cast their gazes outward – anything to avoid eye contact. It was painful to witness, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one watching the relationship unravel.”

1993: “Poofy” pixie

Just because she had a pixie didn’t mean that Diana couldn’t experiment with different styles. She kept the short cut into 1993, of course, and she let the top grow long enough that she could volumize it to an impressive height. A wavy texture throughout added an extra dimension to her look.

A rough year

You would never know it from her poised exterior, but 1993 was a rough year for the woman posthumously dubbed “The People’s Princess.” In January, the world read the transcript of a recorded intimate conversation between Prince Charles and his long-time lover Camilla Parker-Bowles. And by the end of the year, she’d had enough of the non-stop public scrutiny: Diana announced in December that she was taking a step back from her royal engagements and events for her patronages.

1996: The longer-in-the-back look

Later on in the decade, Diana’s pixie cut had grown out to some long lengths — relatively speaking, anyway. Here, with her slicked-back styling, you can see just how long the ends of her flaxen hair had become. But it was still quite short and, when blown out and styled as usual, it had that more iconic look for which the royal is perhaps best remembered.

Bouncing back

Most of us want to look our best in the bounce-back after a breakup. As we mentioned before, 1996 saw Diana officially severing her legal ties to the royal family. And in what some regarded as a small-minded move, the princess lost the right to use the title “Her Royal Highness.” Maybe she maintained her sleek haircut to go with the shortened name.

1997: A straighter, tighter crop

By the time 1997 rolled around, Diana had been sporting her iconic pixie cut for seven years. But this iteration of her beloved, extra-short crop saw it at its sleekest. Her hair had much less body to it, and she had straight-across bangs cut into the look, too. It made sense that Diana would be sporting such a modern look at this time in her life.

A modern look

For one thing, it was the first year of her life post-divorce — and she was back on the dating scene. But the royal also had all eyes on her as she continued to pursue her humanitarian efforts. At the start of the year, for instance, the princess had walked through a deactivated minefield in Angola to draw attention to the Red Cross’s hard work in the area. Her guide, Paul Heslop, later told the BBC that he couldn’t believe she had the poise to do something so dangerous “in front of however many hundreds of millions or billions of people on the news.” Maybe she got a little bit of confidence from her bold hairstyle.