My favorite dress!

    My favorite Diana dress, the blue shift dress by Catherine Walker, she wore to the Christies Auction house in June 1997. This light color blue complemented Diana's beautiful blonde hair and her skin tone. This was one of her favorite colors to wear near the end of her life.
 
     Diana accessorized this dress with pale aqua Jimmy Choo high heels and beautiful "pearl flower" earrings. She also wore a small diamond bracelet on her left wrist.

Enjoy this stunning photo gallery of Diana in her blue dress.

Diana's last birthday.

   Princess Diana celebrated her 36th and final birthday on July 1, 1997.  On her birthday she attended a celebration at the London Tate Gallery of Art as they were celebrating their 100th birthday. Diana wore one of her most beautiful and daring (my favorite of hers) gowns. It was given to her as a birthday Present by one of her close friends and favorite designers Jacques Azurguay. The dress was a long, black beaded gown that had a low cut square neckline and a low back. The princess wore Emerald drop earrings and her emerald choker that was one of her favorites. She also wore her black sling back Jimmy Choo pumps.

Enjoy these stunning photos of Diana's final birthday..

Diana's Sapphire and Pearl Choker.

       Perhaps one of Diana's most infamous pieces of jewelry was her Sapphire and Pearl choker. Many do not know it was not originally a necklace. As a wedding present, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother had given then Lady Diana Spencer a brilliant brooch made up of a beautiful egg shaped sapphire surrounded by two rows of Diamonds. Diana loved the brooch but, Diana was simply not a huge brooch lover. Diana was photographed wearing the brooch as a brooch ONE time. About two months after her marriage to Prince Charles, Diana sent the brooch to Garrads, the famous crown jewelers in London to have the brooch turned into a necklace. She requested it be mounted on 7 rows of white pearls because pearls were Diana's favorite and continued to be throughout her life, also, choker style necklaces were a favorite of hers. She wore it with short dresses and long gowns from the early 1980s to 1997 when she died.  From that moment on the piece of jewelry was turned into one of Diana's absolute favorites. She wore it from the time she received it until she died. Throughout her royal life this was one of her most outstanding and favorite necklaces. Diana was photographed wearing this choker hundreds of times.

Enjoy these shots of the Princess wearing her Sapphire and Pearl choker...

Diana in 1989

Diana in 1987

Diana in 1996

Diana in 1995

Diana in 1995, again.

June 3, 1997

June 3, 1997 Diana attends an event in London for a performance by the ballet of Swan Lake. Diana wears one of her most sensational dresses to this event. An aqua blue beaded dress by Jacques Azarguay, one of her favorite designers in her last years of life. Diana had always loved the ballet her whole life and regularly enjoyed going to performances. She is wearing the infamous "swan lake jewelry suite" with this dress. It was given to her by a designer. She also wears her powder aqua blue Jimmy Choo strappy pumps to complete the look. Blue was one of Diana's favorite colors as it set off her magnificent blonde hair. This event was like many other, the last events of the Princesses life.

Candle In The Wind 1997

      It just so happens that  Candle In The Wind 1997, is my favorite song. We all know the infamous moment at Diana's funeral when Elton John, one of Diana's best friends, took the stage to sing his re-written hit "Candle in the Wind" for the late Princess. Most will agree this was the most heart wrenching and touching moment of Diana's entire funeral. Elton then went on to release the song along with another he dedicated to the Princess as a C.D. "Candle in the Wind/Something About The Way You Look Tonight" Is the highest selling record of all time. The song echos the Princesses life, death and legacy.

Watch Elton's performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8gO0Z818j4

Diana and Mario Testino

     In Spring of 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales was starting a new chapter in her life. It was a very new year for her, so, she thought too, it might be time for some new portraits of herself. She had long admired the work of the famed Photographer Mario Testino, they met and she had a photo shoot set up where Mr. Testino was to take over 200 shots of her. The setting was her Kensington Palace apartment. They are the last "official" photos of the princess and some of the most beautiful and most relaxed. Mario still remembers the princess as  "very relaxed and more beautiful than any photograph could ever do her justice." He also says "Diana will always be my favorite subject I've ever photographed." Mr. Testinos photographs, just months before Diana's death, are some of the most valuable ones of her. These images will forever remind us of the hope and promise that Diana's new life offered her that she sadly never got to finish. These photo capture not only her incredible beauty but her hope for her new found happiness, ultimately proving that 1997 was Diana's happiest year.