When a phone call came from the Palace in November 1981, designer Catherine Walker couldn’t possibly have known it would mark the start of a long-standing and intimate working relationship with the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Nor could she have ever guessed what the role of a style adviser and couturier to one of the world’s most photographed women might entail. The mystery, the deadlines, the behind the scenes drama and of course the glamour, was a huge inspiration to me when writing my new novel The Palace Dressmaker, out Nov 5 and featuring ten real dresses all designed by Walker and worn by Diana.
Walker’s initial brief was simple enough; Diana, who was pregnant with Prince William, simply needed some maternity dresses. In the almost 16 years that followed, this new client would test Walker’s design skills with increasingly challenging commissions – she went on to provide the Princess with the “total care” she needed.
“I bought in lengths of every colour in every fabric,” the late Walker explained in her autobiography The Private Couturier to Diana, Princess of Wales. “I wanted to be sure that whatever I showed her would be in my hands if she chose it… on top of that I held double of what each garment would have needed for safety’s sake. I have known a cup of tea to fall on a piece of finished work and I didn’t want to let her down. Each sketch I presented meant a sizable investment.”
