Princess Diana wanted to re-do her royal wedding just so she could “get the hair right,” her former hairdresser told People. Princess Diana and King Charles tied the knot in July 1981 in St. Paul’s Cathedral, England. Her former dresser Richard Dalton had been responsible for styling her hair leading up to the grand event, although he wasn’t the one who styled her hair on the big day. The task was handled by his colleague, Kevin Shanley. Now, in his book, Mr Dalton called Princess Diana’s wedding day hair a “disaster” and the bride agreed.
Speaking to People, Mr Dalton said that Princess Diana expressed to him that she wanted a re-do of her royal wedding to “get the hair right”. “Diana did express to me that she wished she could do the wedding over again to ‘get the hair right,'” he said. “However, she never mentioned any other regrets while I did her hair,” he continued.
Mr Dalton worked with Princess Diana for a decade. He left his job in 1991. Now, with the encouragement of his friend Renae Plant, curator of The Princess Diana Museum, Mr Dalton has shared memories in his new book with Mr Plant, ‘It’s All About the Hair – My Decade with Diana’, offering never-before-told stories about the beloved royal.
“As a loyal subject to the royal family, I never shared anything publicly until now to protect her,” Mr Dalton told the outlet. “I am 76 years old, (the) same age as (King) Charles, and I wanted to document my real story. (It’s) not a hairdresser’s job to kiss and tell. Now I feel comfortable – 27 years have passed, and nothing in my book is detrimental to Diana’s character. Just wonderful memories,” he added.
Mr Dalton shared that even though he would sometimes only get 15 minutes to style Princess Diana’s hair, he never felt the pressure” working under her. “I loved taking risks with Diana’s hair by trying new things like the orchards in Thailand,” he recalled, referring to his favourite hair moment he ever did for the princess.
Further, the 76-year-old said that during their decade together, he saw Princess Diana at her best – her witty sense of humour, her dedication to motherhood, and her commitment to royal work. He also saw the princess at her worst, including moments of intensely low self-esteem during her marriage with the future King Charles, which ultimately ended in 1992 – the year after Mr Dalton stopped working for the royal.
“Some days she would be happy, some days quiet, some days talkative and some days sad. I experienced all of these with Diana,” Mr Dalton shared in the book. He added that, on her lower days, “sparks would be flying off the hair dryer,” he quipped in the book. “I got used to the stress.”
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Mr Dalton revealed that it was only after he stopped working for Princess Diana that he realised how much stress he was under as the man responsible for the hair of the most photographed woman in the world. When he did her hair for the last time, Mr Dalton said she “was going through a really rough stage of her life with Charles and wanted a fresh staff and could tell I wanted my life back,” he told the outlet. “She said, ‘I think [you want] your freedom back’ – and it was mutual. I didn’t realize how much pressure I was under until I left,” he added.
