The lovely story behind Princess Diana's birthday dress

(Image credit: Getty)

A year on from her divorce, Princess Diana celebrated her last birthday on the 1st of July 1997.

She woke up to flowers and a phone call from Prince Harry, who sang her Happy Birthday, and in the evening, she attended a charity gala at the Tate Gallery, where she was the guest of honour.

For the occasion, she wore a gorgeous floor-length beaded black dress, by designer Jacques Azagury, which she teamed with an emerald and diamond choker and matching earrings, a set that belonged to the Queen and was once worn by her grandmother.

(Image credit: Getty)

According to Hello, this was actually a last minute outfit change, as she actually received it as a birthday present that morning, and she would've planned a different outfit in advance.

The designer told the publication, 'Diana loved it. I believe she had another dress to wear but ended up wearing mine.'

He added, 'she was happier than I had ever seen her. There was something about the way she carried herself; a certain new-found confidence'.

Jacques also confided that as she was no longer an official Royal, Diana loved to wear black in the evening, a colour often worn by the family when in mourning.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.