Royal tour fashion favourites: Diana, Princess of Wales in Australia, 1983

Royal tours are always a source of excitement, not just for the interesting locales and fun engagements, but the stand-out style moments. This summer, Royal Central is looking back at some of the best tour fashion moments from over the years.

While the Cambridges took their first overseas tour just two months after their wedding, it was closer to two years after the royal wedding of a century when Prince William’s parents headed to Australia on their debut tour as a couple in March 1983.

Much has been written about this fateful tour over the years, and it was dramatised in an episode of The Crown, dissecting the early breakdown of the Wales’s marriage. The 21-year-old Princess of Wales had never been on a royal tour abroad, and much was riding on their popularity with Australians. But Diana came out shining, and so did her style.

Our team is sharing their favourite looks Diana wore on her first-ever tour.

Kristin Contino, Chief Reporter

It was hard to choose just two outfits from such an iconic tour. Diana fever was certainly alive and well in Australia that spring, and she didn’t disappoint in terms of style factor. I’m fairly sure I would have been combing the magazines to copy her outfits if I had been in my teens or 20s at the time, and funnily enough, many of these styles are now back in stores.

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The pink-and-white polka dot dress Diana wore in Perth is one of those classic eighties Diana looks that I adore. Taking a cue from Her Majesty, who likes to wear bright colours to be seen in a crowd, the Princess of Wales wore a cheerful fuschia dress designed by Donald Campbell. Paired with an equally pink John Boyd hat and white pumps, the look was fun and feminine. Years later, we’ve seen the Duchess of Cambridge wear a bright fuschia polka dot dress, drawing many comparisons to the mother-in-law she never met.

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We see plenty of “Diana’s best looks” slideshows these days, but I feel like this Jan van Velden dress doesn’t get the attention it deserves. The pussy-bow neck, wide white belt and matching hat equals eighties perfection. The springy pale yellow shade with a white floral pattern paired so well with the floaty skirt and worked for everything from a school visit to a ginger factory that day. I remember having a Barbie with a similar dress/hat in the later eighties and loving it; I would definitely wear this outfit today.

Jessica Storoschuk, Reporter

The Australia tour was a big tour for the still young Princess of Wales. The Prince and Princess of Wales brought along a young Prince William with them, and Diana was immediately popular. 

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This red Bruce Oldfield dress is one of my favourite Diana looks. She wore Oldfield’s designs for nearly a decade, and I think he really knew how to design for her. The ruffle details throughout are still fairly 1980s, but overall the silhouette and colour would work now with a few tweaks. She paired the gown with the Spencer tiara (which she wore several times on the tour), the Prince of Wales feather diamond necklace, and the Royal Family Order of the Queen. Unfortunately, Diana stopped wearing Oldfield’s designs after her split from Prince Charles, and Oldfield’s business suffered greatly. (He did return to royal favour, dressing the Countess of Wessex for the 2011 royal wedding.) 

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This blue Catherine Walker suit also highlights another one of Diana’s fashion relationships. Walker started desiging for Diana when she was pregnant in 1982 and would continue to design for her until her death in 1997. The suit is made out of lighter silk with pleated detailing on the bodice. While I think that a lot of Diana’s wardrobe in the 1980s is markedly of its time, I think that this is another piece that could be worn now with a few adjustments. (She also wore a teal, dress version of this suit on their visit to New Zealand on the same tour.) 

Jess Ilse, Senior Royal Reporter and Editorial Assistant

This icy blue ruffled Bruce Oldfield gown is classically Diana. It’s also a look that would work today, styled the same. Diana knew how to dress like a princess and used it to great success in Australia (she’s pictured here at a charity ball in Sydney). I love this colour for her and the silver accessories.

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This elegant bubblegum pink gown, paired with the Spencer Family tiara, is sheer perfection. It was designed by Victor Edelstein and showed Diana as bright and vivacious. Diana used the colour pink in all its forms, pastel, bubblegum, and hot pink, wonderfully throughout this tour.

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Lydia Starbuck, Associate Editor

I was really young when this tour took place, but I still remember seeing photos of Diana on the front of papers or on the news that I didn’t want on the TV (yes, kids, once upon a time, a whole family shared one TV). Just about everything she wore on this epic tour became famous and remains memorable almost four decades on. Diana-mania was at its height, and while her sense of style was still taking shape, there were hints of all the hallmarks of a fashion supremo in the making.

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My first pick is an outfit that was already iconic when Diana wore it in Canberra as the tour really hit its stride. The long-sleeved version of her wedding day going away outfit was instantly recognisable. Designed by Belville Sassoon, it is the epitome of the new romantic style that Diana had embraced as she put together her royal working wardrobe in her earliest days as part of the House of Windsor. The pink tussore silk two-piece features a mid-calf length skirt, puffed shoulders on both the short and long-sleeved jacket and the famous white-collar, finished with a bow. The flamboyant feathers on the matching hat by John Boyd were an early indication of Diana’s very individual flair for fashion.

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In some ways, this tour altered Diana’s royal life forever. The ‘Shy Di’ celebrated by the papers found a new confidence that was hard to ignore. And at times, that shone through in her wardrobe. This blue and white print dress, designed by Donald Campbell, seems to point to the bold patterns and innovative mirroring that would dominate Diana’s wardrobe in the late 80s. The contrast of backgrounds across the top of the print on this mid-length dress is offset by that Diana staple, a string of pearls, and another striking hat from John Boyd.

Brittani Barger, Deputy Editor

Diana’s fashion was on trend for the 1980s, and like her daughters-in-law after her, people wanted to look like her. It is hard to pick an outfit on this tour that one of my colleagues has not already chosen. I did like Diana in pink, and she wore a very 80s Catherine Walker gown while attending a concert in Melbourne. It was pink with circles in silver on the bodice and skirt and featured the 80s puffy sleeves. While it may not be a go-to fashion look for now, but it was a really pretty look on the young princess during the Australian tour.

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My other choice is the red and white polka dot ensemble Diana wore to visit Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne. It was another Catherine Walker design (a go-to designer for much of her life) and featured a white wide-brimmed hat with red trim. I will admit the white tights were a bit much with the red shoes, but just looking at the dress and red jacket, Diana pulled it off.

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