The Part Of Princess Diana's Wedding Day Glam That Made Her Wish She Could Do It 'Over Again'

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Princess Diana enjoyed the storybook wedding many girls dream of when she married Prince Charles in 1981 in a lavish televised ceremony watched by millions around the world. Yet despite all the fawning over her wedding day glam, the Princess of Wales actually looked back on her special day and regretted one thing: her hair. Princess Diana's former hairdresser Richard Dalton relived his time working with the royal family in a 2024 memoir and recalled how much of "a disaster" her wedding day hair was, noting that it was actually his colleague Kevin Shanley who styled Diana's tresses. "Diana did express to me that she wished she could do the wedding over again to 'get the hair right,'" Dalton told People. "However, she never mentioned any other regrets while I did her hair."

However, it's doubtful that anyone even noticed a hair out of place, as Diana stunned in a lavish wedding gown that captivated the world with its 25-foot train, puffy sleeves, ruffled neckline, and lace trim. The ornate, hand-embroidered gown, embellished with more than 10,000 micro pearls, was made even more decadent by the Queen Mary Lover's Knot tiara, which Queen Elizabeth loaned Diana as her "something borrowed." Her wedding day glam included glowing makeup that complemented her natural beauty, Princess Diana's favorite manicure—which is a chic classic, and her feathered blond hair, which apparently she wanted styled differently.

Princess Diana might've popularized soft glam in the '80s and early '90s, but the British royal took pride in her daily looks. "[Princess Diana] realized the power of hair and makeup, and that is something that should never be underestimated — by anyone," her makeup artist Mary Greenwell said (per Marie Claire). According to Greenwell, Diana was committed to her daily skincare routine, which included basics like cleanser, toner, moisturizer, sunscreen, and plenty of beauty rest. While Princess Diana popularized the blue eyeliner look, her true beauty secret was doing everything in moderation. "She cut back on drinking so her skin was 100 percent. If you smoke, drink or do anything to excess, you will destroy your most important beauty asset — your skin," Greenwell shared.

Life as a princess comes with an array of perks, and while Diana was known for her humble approach to royal life, she reportedly indulged in one glamorous ritual: daily blowouts. "As part of her daily routine, the princess said that her one true extravagance was having her hair washed and blow-dried every weekday morning," Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell revealed in his 2001 memoir "A Royal Duty" (via Marie Claire). There was a reason Princess Diana wore strong blue eyeliner and put effort into how she styled her hair, a mindfulness she was admired for throughout her life. "Diana was very conscious that she did not want her hair to overshadow the charity she was representing that day and supporting," Diana's longtime hairstylist Richard Dalton told People.