ROYAL FAMILY
Royal update: 30 Years After Princess Diana’s Revenge Dress, Her Twin Nieces Channel Her Most Famous Look
The saying goes that revenge is a dish best served cold, but Lady Amelia Spencer and Lady Eliza Spencer, the twin nieces of the late Princess Diana, are making a fashionable case that it also ages well. The 32-year-old fraternal twins both wore full-length black velvet gowns Monday night to the British Fashion Awards, dresses that call to mind Diana’s iconic 1994 “revenge dress.” They even nodded at the late royal’s famous ensemble with their own hair and jewelry, 30 years after their aunt’s memorable outing.
Both Amelia and Eliza’s dresses featured off-the-shoulder necklines and figure-hugging column silhouettes, and they both chose diamond chokers, diamond earrings, and swept-back hairstyles, further channeling Diana’s unforgettable post-divorce look. Amelia opted for a gown with a deep v cutout and thin straps across her biceps, a bit of subtle black-on-black sparkle adorning the dress’s neckline, while Eliza’s gown featured a bateau-like neckline that flowed into draped, off-the-shoulder sleeves. Eliza’s jewelry featured thin coils of diamonds on her necklace, bracelet, and drop earrings, while Amelia’s featured the precious gem in floral motifs.
Diana’s daring ensemble is memorable not only for its sartorial savvy, but the context of when she wore it: On June 29, 1994, Diana stepped out to a gala at London’s Serpentine Gallery wearing an LBD designed by Christina Stambolian, a look that gallerist Dame Julia Peyton-Jones recalled as “sensational” and remembered that “we all felt drab and old-fashioned in comparison.”
The dress had an asymmetrical hemline that fell above Diana’s knees, an off-the-shoulder sweetheart neckline, and a close-fit tailoring that fell well outside of royal style norms, with the added flourish of a sheer black train for added drama. She added black pantyhose and black heels to the look, as well as a thick pearl choker necklace with a whopping diamond-framed sapphire in the middle, reminiscent of her famous sapphire engagement ring, now worn by Kate Middleton.
No matter what she’d worn, Diana knew that all eyes would be on her that night regardless: As she exited that car to gasps, ITV aired an interview with her estranged husband, the then-Prince Charles, where he admitted that he had been unfaithful during their marriage, saying that his union with Diana had “irretrievably broken down, us having both tried.”
If they’re all looking, Diana’s ensemble seemed to communicate, might as well give them a show.
“It is a deeply regrettable thing to happen, but it does happen, and unfortunately, in this case, it has happened,” Charles said in the interview of his affair with the now Queen Camilla.
Eliza and Amelia both work, frequently together, as models, and wore similarly coordinating outfits at last year’s British Fashion Awards, that time catching the light in holographic silver.