Anna Wintour recalls her last memory of meeting Princess Diana before her tragic death
When Anna Wintour and Princess Diana attended a party, there is no doubt that fashion was beaming through the get-together. While the Vogue Editor-in-Chief was in awe with the sense of style that Diana carried with her, Anna recalled that underneath that glamorous look was a woman who was fighting hard to stay happy.
Sitting down for an interview with Tina Brown at her Women in the World Summit, Anna recalled details about a lunch where she and the Princess of Wales were invited. The lunch took place just six weeks before the untimely death of Diana in August 1997. Tina was also present during the event and the two recalled how Diana had chosen to wear a mint green Chanel suit for the occasion. Anna recalled how flawless Diana looked in the choice of clothing for the event.
"She looked incredible first of all. That was the most important thing and she looked fantastic. I heard that she spent a lot of time deciding what to wear to that particular lunch," she said, as reported by E!. Meanwhile, Tina stated that Diana had spoken a lot about loneliness and "how terribly lonely she seemed". But one thing that brought joy to her face was talking about her children, Prince William and Prince Harry. Tina recalled, "how lovingly she spoke about her boys." Prince William was 15 and Prince Harry was 12 years old when the infamous accident occurred.
Meanwhile, Anna recalled how Diana spoke about the royal family not being too happy about the media attention that was brought in by her. "I think that part of her popularity was that Princess Diana really was so good with the media and was so in tune with them and welcomed them rather than standing back," she said. According to Anna, Diana was the only royal who knew how the media could benefit her.
During the interview, Anna also praised the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. The fashion icon spoke about Meghan bringing a new touch to the British royal family and being the perfect person who is "really bringing modernity to the royal family in a way that is inspiring."
Anna also recalled one of the most standing out point for her from the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan. "I think the image that I have in my mind that I think so many people all over the world have in their mind of the Duchess of Sussex walking down the aisle by herself," she said. "That to me was representative of a modern woman."
She also remarked that despite being surrounded by royalties, Meghan did not forget to acknowledge her mother who was sitting among them and having a sparkling smile on her face looking at her daughter walk down the aisle to marry her Prince charming. "And then looking at her extraordinarily beautiful and proud mother in the pew, to me, that symbolized, 'Goodness, this is going to be a different day for the British royal family'," she recalled. Anna has often shared messages of support towards Meghan and the endless amount of criticism she often receives from the media and the world.
Speaking in her Vogue's web series, 'Go Ask Anna', she defended Meghan by saying, "I read somewhere that there were members of the royal household that were confused and upset that she woke up so early, at 5 am," Wintour said. "She's a normal California girl who gets up early and does yoga and meditates. She also sent a lot of text messages. I mean, what did they expect? That she was going to send messages via pigeon? I think she's amazing."