Princess Diana's genius hack that saved her from embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions
Princess Diana was the undisputed queen of fashion and was recognised for her ability to make headlines every time she stepped out in public. She had big names and independent designers desperate for the opportunity to dress her.
Many will first remember some of her iconic outfits, whether it was the dress she wore to dance with John Travolta at the White House or her ‘revenge dress’ she wore on the day her ex-husband's infidelity came to light. As a result, she became adept at carrying out public appearances and employed a series of clever tactics to make sure it all went to plan. One hack that she made famous was the placement of her clutch bag when she stepping out of a car.
Diana herself dubbed the move as her ‘cleavage clutch’ - as it protected her modesty from the prying lenses of the waiting photographers as she got out of the car. This move became a staple for the princess and she was often pictured holding her clutch bag close to her chest.
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Chelsea-based handbag designer Anya Hindmarch regularly helped the Princess of Wales with her accessories after she opened her West London store in 1993. Anya told the Telegraph: "She was a very loyal customer and a lot of fun… she would come and see us with no bodyguards or any fuss."
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The designer went on: “We used to laugh when we designed what she called her ‘cleavage bags,’ little satin clutches which she would cover her cleavage with when she stepped out of cars.”
While Diana was the indisputable queen of fashion, she wasn’t the only royal who used her bag for more than one purpose. It seems that the late Queen also came up with a plot to use her bag to communicate with her ladies-in-waiting or other staff.
In the same way that her ancestors would have used a handheld fan to convey certain messages, the Queen could say she would like an event to end, she would like to stop talking to someone, or that she would like a member of staff to come in and join the conversation all through a few simple movements.
As reported in Grazia, if the monarch placed her handbag on the table at dinner, staff were to take it as a cue that she wanted the event to end in the next five minutes. If she placed it on the floor, it signals that she was not enjoying the conversation and wanted to be rescued by her lady-in-waiting.
Speaking before the monarch's death, Royal historian Hugo Vickers explained that the Queen always draped her handbag over her left arm, so when she switched it, it was an obvious sign that she was bored and wanted to move along.
He said: “This move is a discreet directive that she would like staff to help end the conversation. It would be very worrying if you were talking to the Queen and saw the handbag move from one hand to the other.”
