Lady Diana Spencer on her wedding day, July 29, 1981 wearing the wedding dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel. Reuters
Today marks the 19th anniversary of the death of one of the world’s most enigmatic figures, Diana, Princess of The Wales; a woman her brother Charles referred to as “the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana."
To mark the occasion, here are 30 photos proving her might as a style icon. Her clothing choices ignited the careers of many British fashion designers including Elizabeth and David Emanuel who created her incredible wedding dress and Catherine Walker.
After her separation and divorce from Prince Charles, she favored more of the European designers, including Christian Dior and Gianni Versace, whose funeral she attended, along with Elton John, in July 1997, just a few weeks before her own untimely demise.
Whether she was dressed in couture or simple chinos and a chambray shirt, her desire to connect with ordinary people shone through and enhanced her reputation as the "Queen of People's Hearts."
Click through the slideshow for more photos.
Diana donned a headscarf and mint green coat-dress to visit the Bashahi Mosque in Lahore in Sept. 1991. Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales, on a four-day visit to Angola to help a Red Cross campaign to outlaw landmines worldwide walks in one of the safety corridors of the land mine field of Huambo, January 1997. Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales, posing for a photograph with some French SFOR soldiers at Sarajevo airport before a flight to London, August 1997. Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales in a textured sleeveless sheath, thanks 4-year old Greta Born after she received a program for the Royal Gala performance by the English National Ballet in March 1996. AFP/AFP/Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute fund raising dinner in Sydney, October 1996 wearing a one-shouldered turquoise blue Versace gown Getty ImagesPrincess Diana and Prince Charles look in different directions, Nov. 1992, during a service held to commemorate the 59 British soldiers killed in action during the Korean War. GETTY IMAGESDiana Princess of Wales and Prince Charles watch Indonesian tribal dancers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in November 1989 Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales departs her London health club November 1995 JOHNNY EGGITT/AFP/Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales, in Paris, September 1995 in a red sleeveless sheath dress with matching pumps and clutch. ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales frolics in the surf on the Caribbean island of St Kitts, January 1993 Getty ImagesPrincess Diana JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty ImagesDiana certainly knew how to wear a hat with aplomb. Diana and Prince Charles on a visit to Washington D.C. in Nov.1992 one month before their separation was announced. Getty ImagesAt the Red Cross headquarters in Washington DC in June 1997, Diana, a key volunteer of the British Red Cross Landmine Campaign, wore a lavender suit and a string of pearls. Getty ImagesAt the Help the Aged Golden Awards, Nov. 1995, Diana wore a suit in powder blue with gold buttons. JOHNNY EGGITT/AFP/Getty ImagesAnother fantastic suit, this time a two-button wide lapel number worn at Wimbledon in July 1995. Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales dances with John Travolta at a White House dinner in November, 1985 wearing a blue velvet gown from Victor Edelstein Getty ImagesDiana, leaving the first anti-AIDS bookshop in Paris in November 1992 wearing a hot pink suit. Getty ImagesDiana, in a white suit with a navy trim and matching wide brimmed hat, with ex-husband Prince Charles and their children Prince Harry and Prince William on VJ Day, August 1995. Getty ImagesEarly on Diana showed her love of a good suit. Here, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan welcome the Duke and Duchess of Wales to The White House in November 1985.Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales, on a private visit to Pakistan to participate in the fund-raising campaign for Imran Khan's cancer hospital. Shown here with Khan's wife, Jemima Getty ImagesDiana, Princess of Wales tours Imran Khan's charity cancer hospital with Khan and his wife Jemima in Lahore, May 1997. Getty ImagesDiana with The Washington Post owner Katharine Graham, Vogue Magazine editor Anna Wintour, designer Ralph Lauren and Georgetown University President Leo J. O'Donovan. POOL/AFP/Getty ImagesDiana with veteran British actor Sir Alec Guinness at a gala dinner at the 40th Cannes film festival, May 1987. The Princess wore a Grecian style gown from Catherine Walker Getty ImagesDiana attended the funeral of Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace in Milan, July 1997 wearing a black shift dress and Versace black handbag. Getty ImagesDiana shows off her fabulous figure on vacation at the Indian Castle Beach in Nevis, January 1993. Getty ImagesDiana poignantly sits alone in front of the Taj Mahal in February, 1992, wearing a boxy shouldered red jacket and purple skirt. Getty ImagesPrincess Diana at the Royal Albert Hall in London June 1997 wearing a pale blue sheath dress embellished with crystal from Jacques Azagury Getty ImagesDiana attended The Costume Institute Ball at The Met in May 1996 wearing a midnight blue dress from John Galliano’s first collection for Dior. JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty ImagesAnother bold pattern, this time polka dots, as Diana visited the ancient city of Kyoto, central Japan in 1986. Getty ImagesIn January 1988 Diana visited the Footscray Park in suburb of Melbourne, Australia wearing this bold striped suit and white wide-brimmed hat. Getty Images
