- "The Crown" pays homage to many of Princess Diana's memorable fashion moments.
- The latest season recreates the iconic "revenge dress" and other outfits worn by Diana in the 1990s.
- Last season, Emma Corrin wore a replica of Princess Diana's iconic wedding gown.
The fourth season of the show emulated a pair of pastel yellow overalls and a floral top worn by Princess Diana.
In a scene of "The Crown," a young Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) runs into Prince Charles (Josh O'Connor) after the Badminton Horse Trials — an equestrian event where Princess Anne competed — wearing a pair of overalls that seem to be inspired by an outfit Princess Diana was pictured wearing in 1981.
Suzanne Mackie, the show's executive producer, said in a statement obtained by Insider that costume designer Amy Roberts was inspired by Princess Diana's style from her years prior to becoming a member of the royal family.
"Amy really went to town with Diana's younger looks, you know, the Diana before she became the Versace Diana, the Diana before she became the absolute fashion icon that she came to be," Mackie said. "This is the slightly more innocent Diana who would wear bright woolen, almost home-knitted jumpers, bright pinks, and yellows."
"The Crown" created a mirror image of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's famous engagement photo.
For the couple's engagement photo in 1981, then-Lady Diana Spencer bought the blue suit herself from Harrod's department store.
"The Crown" not only emulated the couple's pose and the blue ensemble worn by Lady Di — but Corrin also wore a replica of the future princess' engagement ring.
In real life, Princess Diana picked out the diamond-surrounded, 12-carat sapphire ring herself from a House of Garrad catalog.
Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010 with Princess Diana's sapphire ring.
Emma Corrin wore a replica of Princess Diana's wedding gown, and it included many of the same details as the original.
For her wedding to Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Princess Diana wore an ivory silk gown by David and Elizabeth Emanuel. The gown's most memorable feature was its 25-foot-long train — the longest train of any British royal bridal gown.
"The Crown" costume designers emulated the details of Princess Diana's real wedding gown, including the dramatic train, voluminous sleeves, and bow detailing.
"I remember watching the wedding and thinking, 'Oh, that's a very big dress,'" Mackie said. "But there was something about seeing it on Emma. There is something brilliant about seeing the back of her and the back of that dress that is more powerful, weirdly, than seeing the front. It is as if she is walking away from us, you know, it's quite haunting."
"The Crown" also re-created a hot-pink outfit that Princess Diana was pictured wearing in the 1980s.
Princess Diana was pictured wearing the pink outfit around 1986 outside the Highgrove House — which was her main residence with Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry in Gloucestershire, England.
For a scene in season four of "The Crown" that showed a young Lady Diana Spencer roller skating in Buckingham Palace, the show's designers styled Corrin in a similar outfit, including a pair of lighter-pink checkered pants and a magenta sweater layered over a white shirt.
Corrin channeled Princess Diana in the early '80s while wearing a glittery red spaghetti-strap gown.
Another scene from the latest season of "The Crown" shows Corrin as Princess Diana in a red dress with a sweetheart neckline and glitter detailing. The outfit seemed to draw inspiration from a gown that the Princess of Wales was pictured wearing on multiple occasions, including to the premiere of the James Bond film "For Your Eyes Only" in 1981 — when she was still a royal fiancée — and around 1982 to an event at the Royal Opera House.
For the scene in "The Crown," Corrin wore a diamond necklace similar to one Princess Diana owned, a tiara, and a badge that represents the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II.
"The Crown" paid homage to many of Princess Diana's outfits from her Australian royal tour, including this monochromatic blue ensemble.
Roberts, the show's costume designer, said in a statement obtained by Insider that re-creating outfits worn by Princess Diana during her tour of Australia with Prince Charles proved to be a challenge.
"The dresses Diana wore here were so specific to the '80s in terms of the particular weight of the fabrics, which were mainly silks, and therefore how they drape on the body," Roberts said. "The specificity of those particular fabrics was harder to source in contemporary fabric shops."
Corrin's ruffled blue dress looked strikingly similar to the one Princess Diana wore during her royal tour of Australia.
Many of the '80s-inspired pieces worn by Corrin in scenes portraying the couple's Australian tour — such as this turquoise dress — were found from dyeing fabrics and sourcing vintage textiles, Roberts said.
"The Crown" also took inspiration from a blue floral dress that the Princess of Wales wore while touring Australia.
Princess Diana was photographed during her royal tour of Australia wearing a Donald Campbell dress and a John Boyd hat — and a similar look made an appearance in "The Crown."
"The Crown" re-created a gown and matching shawl that Princess Diana wore while visiting New York City on a solo trip in 1989.
Season four of "The Crown" re-created the outfit that Princess Diana wore for a solo trip to New York City, which included a visit to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for its 1989 Royal Gala.
In a personal essay for People Magazine, the Brooklyn Academy of Music's President Emerita, Karen Brooks Hopkins, recalled hosting Princess Diana for the historic occasion.
"I can tell you that the rollout of a royal visit is meticulous," Hopkins wrote in People Magazine. "She is not just a person but an industry, and every moment is designed to maximize the fantasy, beauty, and mystery of royalty — and our Diana was the quintessential princess. She was tall, young, graceful, beautiful, and a real professional."
A one-shoulder floral dress worn by Corrin in "The Crown" is a nod to a quintessential Princess Diana silhouette.
In addition to Corrin's outfits that paid homage to the Princess of Wales, their hair and makeup also contributed to emulating the royal's look and style evolution.
Cate Hall, a hair and makeup designer who worked on seasons three and four of "The Crown," said in a press release from Netflix that Corrin's wigs had "the same Diana cut" but changed in style and color throughout the season, becoming "progressively blonder and more glamorous and voluminous."
"Emma Corrin's own hair color is really similar to Diana's natural hair color, but Diana's haircut was what defined her look. Even un-styled, it is unmistakably her," Hall said.
Season five of "The Crown" mimics various outfits worn by Princess Diana in the 1990s, like this loose recreation of an outfit the royal wore during a trip to Seville, Spain, in 1992.
In "The Crown," Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) wears the floral dress during her and Prince Charles' "second honeymoon" trip to Italy. The real dress was designed by Bellville Sassoon. Both versions feature shoulder pads that were in keeping with fashion trends of the early 1990s.
Both Princess Diana and Elizabeth Debicki's depiction accessorized the look with black sunglasses and gold earrings.
For Princess Diana's swimsuit look during the Italy trip, "The Crown" seemingly pulled inspiration from an animal-print bathing suit worn by Diana during a family trip to the British Virgin Islands in 1990.
Both bathing suits feature the same bold cheetah-print pattern and scoop neckline.
Debicki wore a nearly identical outfit to one that Princess Diana wore in 1992.
In "The Crown," Debicki wears a red jacket with gold buttons and a black collar to visit a hospital where her close friend works. The ensemble is a close match to one that Princess Diana wore during an official visit to Royal Marsden Hospital, where the royal opened a new wing, in 1992.
The "revenge dress," one of the most literal recreations of a Princess Diana outfit, shows up in episode five.
In June 1994, Charles admitted to having an affair with Camilla during an interview with documentary filmmaker Jonathan Dimbleby. This is chronicled in "The Crown" in addition to "tampongate," which refers to a leaked phone call between Prince Charles and Camilla. The call was scandalous and sexual in nature, with Charles reportedly joking he would like to be transformed into a pair of Parker Bowles' "knickers" or her tampon.
"I'll just live inside your trousers or something," he said. "It would be much easier."
The same night the documentary was released, Diana attended a dinner at the Serpentine Gallery wearing what would be called the "revenge dress" — a form-fitting, off-the-shoulder LBD by designer Christina Stambolian.
"[The original revenge dress that Princess Diana wore was] groundbreaking for those people making those dresses and making those decisions," Amy Roberts, the costume designer for "The Crown," told Byrdie. "[What we are doing is] honoring that. Interestingly, for us, these kinds of moments are—I always feel bad about saying [this]—where we have the least creative license. We're honoring this because it was iconic for a reason—because it's magnificent and amazing. And then we'll fall down to that historical moment."
"The Crown" recreated the same outfit Princess Diana wore to drop off Prince William on his first day of school at Eton College in 1995.
The outfits are practically identical, from the blue suit jacket with gold buttons to the simple black dress Diana wore underneath.
"The Crown" also created an exact replica of an iconic winter look worn by Princess Diana during a trip to Lech, Austria, in 1994.
The costume department was even able to replicate Princess Di's signature blue baseball cap.
"The Crown" went to great lengths to perfectly mirror Princess Diana's bombshell interview with Martin Bashir in November 1995.
Debicki wears a white top and oversized black blazer similar to the outfit Princess Diana wore during the now-controversial BBC1 "Panorama" interview with Martin Bashir in 1995.
It was during this interview that Diana famously admitted to knowing about Charles' relationship with Camilla, saying, "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
The interview went into other details of the marriage, her relationship with the royal family and press, as well as her struggle with bulimia. She also admitted to an affair with her riding instructor.
Following the interview, Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, alleged Bashir showed Diana fake documents to persuade her to take part in the interview.
The BBC apologized in May 2021 after an inquiry found "deceitful" tactics had been used to secure the interview, and Bashir resigned from his role as the BBC's religion editor.
"The Crown" frequently paid homage to Princess Diana's iconic evening wear.
In a brief clip, Debicki can be seen wearing a blue crystal-covered dress that is eerily similar to the one Princess Diana wore to a performance of "Swan Lake" in June 1997.
Debicki's character also attends "Swan Lake" during a scene in the show, although she wears a completely different dress.
In "The Crown," Diana attends "Swan Lake" wearing a dress almost identical to one that the royal wore to another event at the Serpentine Gallery in June 1995.
Both dresses have the same bold halter necklines and pastel blue coloring.
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