'Mischievous' Princess Diana Stole The Spotlight From Queen Camilla's 50th Birthday By Wearing A Sexy Swimsuit
Princess Diana's sexy swimsuit dominated headlines on Camilla Parker Bowles' (now Queen Camilla) 50th birthday in 1997, stealing the spotlight from the woman she once referred to as the third person in her marriage with then-Prince Charles.
Charles threw a lavish birthday party for Camilla at his Gloucestershire residence Highgrove House on July 18, 1997.
The soirée featured a five-course dinner and had a star-studded guest list that included politicians.
However, according to the Daily Mail, all eyes were on the "mischievous" Princess Diana on the day of Camilla's 50th birthday bash.
Photos of the then-36-year-old Princess of Wales looking stunning in a leopard-print, one-piece Gottex swimsuit while on vacation in the south of France appeared in newspapers in the U.K. and around the world that day.
Princess Diana was captured by paparazzi taking a dip in the sea on July 17, 1997 -- the day before the party.
At the time, she was enjoying a getaway with her boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed and sons Prince William and Prince Harry at the home of Dodi's father, billionaire Harrods department store owner Mohamed Al Fayed, in St. Tropez.
Diana and the Gottex swimsuit that kept Camilla's 50th birthday party off the front pages: CLAUDIA JOSEPH on the Princess's risqué holiday poses in 1997 - and the Israeli queen of fashion who made the look possible https://t.co/M1vnHV70xl
— Daily Mail Australia (@DailyMailAU) July 18, 2024
The trip came just weeks before Princess Diana and Dodi were killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.
The St. Tropez vacation was recreated in the sixth and final season of Netflix's "The Crown."
On the show, Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) told Prince William (Rufus Kampa) that she wanted to be away from the U.K. while Prince Charles (Dominic West) hosted a birthday bash for Camilla (Olivia Williams).
Diana was then seen speaking to and posing for photographers in St. Tropez on the day of Camilla's party.
The scene featured Diana's iconic leopard-print swimsuit, which "The Crown" costume designers Amy Roberts and Sidonie Roberts had asked Gottex to recreate for the final season.
"We thought: "Why don't we just go to them and see?'" Roberts said of their decision to approach the swimwear brand, according to the Daily Mail. "They were brilliant and made them for us. We had fittings so that Elizabeth felt comfortable as well."
