A youthful portrait of a 25-year-old Princess Diana hits auction tomorrow

A portrait of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, which was taken in 1986 by Terence Donovan when the princess was 25 years old, is being auctioned this month at Bonhams. The photograph, a 20ins by 16ins portrait which depicts the young royal in a rich purple gown, is expected to sell for an estimated £15,000 tomorrow. According to the Mail Online, Diana was not a fan of the image, reportedly pulling a face and expressing her distaste in the candid statement, ‘Oh, I don’t like that photo’. 

Despite Diana’s clear displeasure with the image, which she reportedly found too ‘formal’, the Royal Mail later selected it as part of a stamp collection to commemorate Diana after her death in 1997. Sarah Lindberg, specialist at London auctioneer house, said, ‘This pose is from the first sitting by Donovan and was chosen by the Royal Mail as one of the images in a collection of stamps issued in 1998 to commemorate the princess’s life and achievements’. She also added, ‘The appeal of Diana still endures after her untimely death and people still have a strong interest in her as a woman’.