Princess Diana may have later become one of the world’s most beloved style icons, but she first captured hearts as a modest, young nursery school teacher. One of the early photographers to document her journey, Arthur Edwards, recently reflected on an iconic 1980 photo that accidentally made headlines.
The photo, taken when Diana was just 19 and dating Prince Charles, captured her standing in a park wearing a skirt that became see-through when backlit by the sun. Edwards, now a longtime royal photographer for The Sun, insists the moment was completely innocent. “I never meant for the photo to come out that way,” Edwards shared. “It was one of those rare, spontaneous moments that every photographer hopes for—completely unplanned, but too compelling not to share.”
Edwards had just been assigned to cover the royal beat and was eager to capture an image of Diana, then a quiet teacher and Charles’s new girlfriend. He knew she worked at a preschool in London, so he knocked on doors until he found her location.
After gaining permission from the school’s owner, Edwards took Diana and two young students to a nearby park for some quick photos. “She struck a pose, and I snapped a few shots,” he recalled. Then, in a twist of fate, the sun emerged, backlighting her skirt and revealing her legs in silhouette. “It was purely chance,” Edwards said. “But it turned the shot into an iconic image.”