Princess Diana may have become one of the world's greatest fashion icons, but according to her former butler Paul Burrell, not every designer dress in her wardrobe was preserved for history or destined for a museum.
Long before her landmark 1997 Christie's charity auction, Burrell claimed the Princess of Wales quietly sold some of her designer clothing through thrift shops in London's Knightsbridge and Chelsea.
© Anwar HusseinThe goal wasn't to make headlines or clear closet space. Instead, he wrote, it was to generate cash she could spend privately while raising Princes William and Harry.
In his memoir A Royal Duty, Burrell explained that members of the royal family rarely carried physical money. By discreetly selling pieces from her wardrobe, Diana was able to keep hard currency on hand without relying on palace spending procedures.
© Tim GrahamAccording to Burrell, that money allowed her to take her sons on the kind of everyday outings many families take for granted, from trips to the cinema to afternoons at McDonald's. More importantly, he said, it became another way she taught William and Harry about the value of money and life outside palace walls.
Diana wanted her sons to experience the real world:
The future king and his younger brother enjoyed extraordinary privilege, but Diana was determined they would also understand ordinary life.
© Dave BenettShe was known for taking William and Harry on the London Underground and public buses instead of relying exclusively on royal cars.
During visits to amusement parks, royal biographers have long noted that Diana wanted her sons to wait in the regular queues rather than receive special treatment. Weekend trips to McDonald's became another way to give them experiences shared by millions of other children.
© Bob CollierBurrell also recalled how fascinated the boys were by cash itself. William and Harry affectionately nicknamed Queen Elizabeth II "Granny," so British banknotes featuring the late monarch became "Granny notes."
According to Burrell, a £10 note was known as a "brown Granny," while a £50 note became a "pink Granny." Watching Diana hand them spending money was, he wrote, one of their greatest joys.
A royal mother who rewrote centuries of tradition:
Those everyday outings reflected Diana's broader philosophy of parenting, which challenged many longstanding royal customs.
© Tim GrahamShe broke royal tradition by giving birth to Prince William and Prince Harry at St. Mary's Hospital in London rather than inside a royal residence.
She also chose to be far more hands-on than previous generations of royal mothers, personally putting her sons to bed and remaining closely involved in their daily routines instead of leaving much of their upbringing solely to palace staff.
© Tim GrahamWhen William was just nine months old, Diana insisted he accompany her and then-Prince Charles on their official tour of Australia instead of remaining in Britain for months.
Education was another area where Diana challenged convention. Rather than relying solely on palace tutors, she insisted William and Harry attend schools outside palace walls, regularly attended parents' events and famously kicked off her shoes to race barefoot during one of William's school sports days.
© Ken R. GoffTeaching compassion beyond palace walls:
Perhaps Diana's greatest lesson was empathy. She regularly took William and Harry on private visits to homeless shelters, AIDS hospices and charitable organizations, hoping they would understand hardship firsthand rather than growing up sheltered by royal privilege.
Prince William has often credited those childhood visits with shaping his lifelong commitment to tackling homelessness, saying his mother introduced him to the issue from an early age and helped him understand that life exists beyond palace walls.
© Ken R. GoffPrince Harry has similarly said Diana showed them how ordinary people lived, giving both brothers a perspective that allowed them to connect naturally with the public throughout their adult lives.
William and Harry still celebrate the mother who broke the rules:
In the 2017 documentary 'Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy,' both princes reflected on the playful, affectionate woman they remember behind the public image.
© WPA PoolHarry described Diana as "a total kid through and through," recalling one of her favorite sayings, "You can be as naughty as you want, just don't get caught."
William remembered coming home from school as a teenager to discover that Diana had secretly invited supermodels Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell to Kensington Palace simply to embarrass him.
© Tim GrahamHarry has also recalled that Diana would sneak sweets into their football socks before matches, while both brothers have spoken about the enormous hugs she gave them and the unconditional affection she showed at a time when royal parenting often appeared far more reserved.
Although William and Harry have followed very different paths as adults, they have remained united in their admiration for their mother's approach to raising them.
Nearly three decades after her death, Diana's legacy lives on not only through her humanitarian work and timeless fashion, but through the compassionate values she worked so hard to instill in her two sons.
