25 ways Princess Diana broke protocol as a Royal

1. She had a job before she got married:
Diana worked as a part-time kindergarten teacher in London. At the time, she was the first royal to have a paying job before getting engaged.

2. She picked her own engagement ring — from a catalog:
Although royal engagement rings are usually custom made, the 19-year-old bride selected hers from the Garrard jewelry collection catalog. Because Diana's ring was "accessible" to the public at the time, this caused a stir.

3. She wrote her own vows:
In 1981, Princess Diana made history when she famously refused to say that she would "obey" Prince Charles during their wedding vows. She also called Charles the wrong name!

4. Then Kate Middleton followed Diana's lead:
Kate removed the line in her vows that said she would "obey" Prince William.

5. And Meghan Markle did too:
Meghan also chose to omit "obey" from her vows. She and Prince Harry took it a step further by using casual monikers during their service, which was a change in royal tradition.

6. She was the first royal to give birth to a future monarch outside of the home:
It was tradition for royals to have home births, but Diana gave birth to Prince William in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in 1982 —and Prince Harry in the same hospital in 1984.

7. And Kate did the same.
So far, Kate has had all three of her children in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital.

8. She was a hands-on mum:
The 20-year-old took a completely modern view of child-rearing from the very beginning. She chose her sons' first names herself (Charles wanted Arthur for their firstborn and Albert for the second) and breastfed them as infants.

9. She put her family before royal duties.
When she married Prince Charles, Diana gave up working as a nursery school teacher in favor of her royal obligations. But while she maintained her official duties, Diana put parenting before her other commitments.

10. She sent her boys to school.
Usually, royals are taught at home and by a governess inside the palace. But at his mother's insistence, William became the first heir to the throne to attend public school — at Jane Mynor's nursery school near Kensington Palace.

11. She exposed her kids to a non-royal way of life.

12. She made her own fashion choices.

13. She understood the POWER of fashion.
No longer "Shy Di"! In 1994, while a documentary about Prince Charles' infidelity was airing, Princess Diana donned a clingy, ruched mini dress for a Serpentine Gallery benefit.

14. And once she even wore a necklace as a tiara.

15. She wasn't afraid to wear black outside of funerals.
Typically, royals don't wear black in public, unless they are attending a funeral or are in mourning. However, Diana wore black repeatedly to events.

16. She wore "low cut" dresses.
But don't worry, she wasn't reckless. Princess Diana's handbag designer Anya Hindmarch called her purses "cleavage bags," because the Princess used them to cover up her chest while getting out of the car.

17. And carried her "cleavage bags" to events.

18. She didn't always wear gloves at formal events.
It's tradition for royals to wear gloves to the opera and formal events, such as banquets. Queen Elizabeth almost always wears them, both for fashion reasons and as a way to avoid germs.

19. She didn't stick to nude nail polish.
It's common for the women in the royal family to wear neutral nail polish or no polish at all, per Queen Elizabeth's preference. But Princess Diana wasn't afraid to go bold with her polish choices.

20. She experimented with her makeup.
Princess Diana wore blue eyeliner for years. Her makeup artist later revealed that for official appearances Diana opted for neutral colors that were "appropriate for the occasion," since royals are supposed to keep their appearances subtle.

21. She wore suits to formal events.
Unless you're a man, royal family members aren't supposed to wear pants to formal occasions. Clearly Princess Diana didn't get the memo here (but we love that she rocked trousers!).

22. She was frank with the press.
Diana appeared on the cover of Vogue three times before her death, and she didn't shy away from tough questions.

23. She even spoke candidly about her marriage.
In the BBC interview, she addressed Prince Charles's longtime relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles: "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

24. She spoke about mental illness and eating disorders.
Princess Diana also told Bashir about her struggles with bulimia, which she said resulted from the stress she felt keeping her marriage publicly intact.

25. She spoke to children at eye level.
When Diana spoke with children, she always crouched to see them at eye-level. "Diana was the first member of the royal family to do this," said Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine.

25 ways Princess Diana broke protocol as a Royal - A THREAD

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