Camilla Parker Bowles' Inappropriate Outfit At Diana's Wedding Still Has People Talking

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

What do you do when the man you love, the prince you were forbidden to marry, is about to tie the knot with his politically approved fiancée? Do you sit at home in bitter silence, or do you RSVP "Yes," and let your inappropriate outfit do the rebelling for you? For Camilla Parker Bowles, later the queen consort, the answer was clearly the latter.

When King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, Camilla arrived in a gray dress that was so pale it looked white, topped with a matching pillbox hat and a face that could curdle milk. Everyone knows you don't wear white unless you're the bride, and most wedding guests avoid light colors like pastels or grays because they're so close to white. But was Camilla intentionally making a statement, or was the no-white rule lax in the 1980s? Thanks to a lack of direct sources from the era, we went digging through the AskOldPeople subreddit, and the verdict was unanimous. Even in the '70s, avoiding white was a known rule.

Camilla Parker Bowles attended the wedding of Prince Charles & Diana Spencer and wore a white dress pic.twitter.com/DvOcHMWbFo

— MeghansMole©️ (@MeghansMole) August 3, 2025

One commenter couldn't help but recall Camilla's outfit unprompted: "It was common sense not to outshine the bride, and that meant not wearing white. Most people didn't have a problem with it, but there's always been a few (like Camilla wearing a white wedding gown at Di's wedding), but reasonable people would never think to try a stunt like that." 

Beyond the problematic color of Camilla Parker Bowles' dress, another detail drew just as many side-eyes. Her pale-gray pillbox hat had a matching veil. On someone else, it might have been a coincidence. But knowing Camilla was the dumped lover, the combination of the color and a veil feels a little too deliberate to ignore.

However, not everyone is sold on the theory that Camilla dressed to try to get to the late Princess Diana. Some believe Camilla's outfit was the closest she could get to mourning attire without sparking open outrage. Gray, after all, sits right beside black on the funeral palette and was the perfect shade to look somber. Then there's the less popular theory that Camilla was simply oblivious to royal etiquette, especially given her history of questionable fashion choices since marrying King Charles III.

As queen consort, she's produced some of the worst Trooping the Colour looks of all time, and some of the most embarrassing royal family outfit mishaps. But perhaps, the real question isn't what the public thought; it's what the bride thought. And judging from a later interview, Diana herself seemed to agree that Camilla's outfit was, in fact, inappropriate.

In 1992, writer Andrew Morton published "Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words," which included the princess' recollection of several key moments from her life. One of them was her wedding, a day she called a core memory. But it wasn't her dress, her husband, or even the grand occasion that stuck with her most. It was Camilla Parker Bowles.

"I knew she was in there, of course. I looked for her," Princess Diana said. "So walking down the aisle, I spotted Camilla — pale grey, veiled pillbox hat, saw it all, her son Tom standing on a chair. To this day, you know, vivid memory" (via Independent). Those aren't exactly the words of someone pleased, or even indifferent, about a guest's outfit.

Interestingly, the tension between the two women wasn't the only reason Diana and King Charles III's wedding landed on our roundup of celebrity weddings derailed by awkward moments. The bride and groom themselves contributed. Diana called him "Philip Charles" instead of "Charles Philip," and in his vows, Charles slipped up and promised her "thy goods" instead of "my worldly goods." Not exactly the best omen all around.