This is why Princess Diana never wore gloves

And the reason behind it will melt your heart.

princess diana never wore gloves
(Image credit: Rex Features (Shutterstock))

And the reason behind it will melt your heart.

We already know why Kate Middleton only ever carries a clutch, and why Prince William doesn’t wear his wedding ring, and now another Royal mystery has been solved.

Princess Diana's style is iconic, but did you notice that she shunned protocol by never wearing gloves on official engagements? Well, the reason why will melt your heart.

Eleri Lynn, curator of the exhibition Diana: Her Fashion Story, told People: ‘She abandoned the royal protocol of wearing gloves because she liked to hold hands when visiting people or shake hands and have direct contact. She also stopped wearing hats because she said, “You can’t cuddle a child in a hat.”’

This was kind of a big deal at the time, as gloves were a royal tradition that historically meant status and purity. Diana would also wear bright clothes to cheer up sick children.

And while she was known as a fashion icon, you might be surprised to know that when she first got engaged to Prince Charles, her wardrobe was very sparse.

Lynn added, ‘Her wardrobe was playful, and she borrowed a lot of clothes from her friends. But she quickly learned what would work in a public capacity. She had a great design eye and a real knack for fashion. Although she wanted to focus on her work, she wanted to use fashion to help that.’

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.