Would it surprise you to learn that Princess Diana attended the Met Gala only once? The Met Gala is basically the Super Bowl of fashion and Lady Di was always a style MVP, but, for whatever reason, the 1996 event was the only Met Gala she ever attended. That said, Princess Diana’s one Met Gala look was quite enough to make a major splash.
By 1996, Diana was in her rebellious, post-divorce era, and her new, daring attitude often showed through in her clothes. And the midnight blue lingerie-inspired gown she wore to the Met Gala was no exception. Designed by John Galliano, the silk slip dress featured a low sweetheart neckline and black lace trim, designed to look like a fancy negligée. She wore it with her even more iconic pearl choker necklace with the oversized sapphire stone in the center and matching sapphire drop earrings.
Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
According to CNN, Princess Diana actually made a major alteration to the dress without telling Galliano. According to the designer, when he watched the princess step out of the car at the gala, he was surprised to see that she had taken the corset detail out of the dress. “Fast-forward to the event, and I just remember her getting out of the car. I couldn’t believe it. She’d ripped the corset out,” he said in Hulu’s In Vogue: The 90s documentary.
Princess Diana’s one Met Gala appearance may be surprising, but she is actually one of the few members of the royal family who have ever actually attended the yearly event. Neither Kate Middleton nor Meghan Markle have ever gone to the Met Gala—though we have seen Princess Kate wear her late mother-in-law’s sapphire drop earrings to the Trooping of the Colour ceremony in 2022. In 2019, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour said that both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle would be dream Met Gala guests, so there’s still a chance that one or both of them will pick up where their predecessor left off.