Princess Diana Felt Mortified by Her Sheer Skirt Photo

Before Princess Diana became the royal that we all know and love, she was once a kindergarten teacher who went by Lady Diana Spencer—and also happened to be dating Prince Charles.

During this phase of Diana’s life, when the public started becoming interested in her and before she ended up marrying Charles, the press was eager to get candid photos of her as so few existed before she became a royal. After striking a deal with photographer, Diana posed for photos at the Young England Kindergarten on September 17, 1980, so long as they agreed to leave the students and the school alone afterward. The photo session resulted in the now-iconic shot of Diana in a billowing sheer white skirt.

“Two journalists from rival newspapers were told by their editors to find out more about the young 19-year-old. They decided to join forces and knew she worked for a nursery somewhere in Pimlico,” Charles Rae wrote in The Daily Mail. “So, they set about hitting the phones and eventually struck lucky at the Young England Kindergarten.”

Rae continued, “A deal was agreed that in return for her posing for a picture, she and the kindergarten would be left in peace. Around half a dozen photographers and a few reporters turned up and Diana went with them to a nearby park.”

Diana’s choice of clothing appeared to be normal at first glance—she wore the white skirt with a purple vest and undershirt, and kept her makeup and hair simple.

“What no one realized at the time that the sun now behind her had lit up her legs like a spotlight through the dress. She was not wearing a petticoat,” Rae said. “The photo session with the amazing silhouette picture lasted no more than two or three minutes.”

Naturally, the shot “was splashed over all the front pages the following day.”

The future princess wasn’t happy about her choice of attire gaining attention. “When Diana saw the picture the following day, she was appalled and moaned to Prince Charles, ‘I don’t want to be known as the girlfriend with no petticoat,'” Rae wrote.

Diana’s down-to-earth nature ultimately led the public to fall in love with her, and Charles to marry her the following year on July 29, 1981, in a ceremony in St Paul’s Cathedral. The couple would famously divorce 15 years later amid his affair with Camila Parker Bowles, who would later become Queen Camilla.