Princess Diana's Former Hairdresser Broke Royal Rules to Sneak This Surprising Item Into the Palace for Her
Princess Diana's Former Hairdresser Broke Royal Rules to Sneak This Surprising Item Into the Palace for Her
Rachel BurchfieldWed, July 1, 2026 at 7:20 PM UTC
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Princess Diana sitting in front of her home, Highgrove House, in July 1986Credit: GettyThe Gist -
Princess Diana loved to read tabloids, according to her former hairdresser Richard Dalton.
So much so that Dalton revealed they would be "smuggled" into the palace for her—a break in royal rules.
Dalton was Diana's official hairdresser from 1981 to 1990.
While Princess Diana was often in the tabloids throughout her too-short life, it turns out she also was a fan of reading them. The late Princess of Wales's longtime hairdresser Richard Dalton, said tabloids were "smuggled" into the palace for Diana because "she wasn't allowed" to see them, in an interview with People.
Princess Diana in November 1988.
"One of the hairdressers smuggled them in," he said with a laugh, cheekily adding, “Did I say that? They were smuggled in, but it’s not to do with me.” Dalton—who was Diana’s official hairdresser from 1981 to 1990—told the outlet that Diana “used to say, ‘Richard, can you bring them in for me?’ Nobody questioned it because nobody knew. Once I’d got through security and into the pantry, it was all plain sailing from there.”
Dalton added that Diana’s coverage in said tabloids often “annoyed” both of them. “I’d be doing her hair, she’d be flipping through the pages, and she’d go, ‘Ugh,’” he said. The Princess of Wales would “then throw it to the side.”
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He added, “Then another one comes along and then [she’d say], ‘Ohhhhhh,’” sighing for full effect.
Princess Diana in 1996.
Dalton, whose book It’s All About the Hair—My Decade with Diana came out in October 2024, said one tabloid rumor in particular hurt Diana—the notion that her younger son, Prince Harry, might not be the biological son of Prince Charles.
Princess Diana on July 1, 1983.Credit: Getty
“They always [went] on about, ‘Is Charles the father of Harry?’” Dalton said. “Of course he is.”
on InStyle
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
