Princess Diana’s dresser Zandra Rhodes, 83, says the late royal got a ‘raw deal’ and was ‘not happy’ because she didn’t have love in her life

Dame Zandra Rhodes, the dresser of Diana, Princess of Wales, has claimed that the royal got a ‘raw deal’.

British fashion designer, Zandra, 83, who is based in Bermondsey, south London, is famous for her bold designs and equally daring electric pink hair. 

Her designs are often sported by the rich and famous, including Diana Ross and Nicole Richies. 

But it was Princess Diana’s support that really helped raise Zandra’s profile, cementing her status as one of Britain’s greatest designers.

In conversation with The Times, Zandra shared a glimpse into her relationship with the royal, describing her as warm’, despite having a ‘raw deal’. 

‘You can have all the riches in the world, but if you don’t have love, or don’t feel loved, you have very little,’ Zandra added.  

Her working relationship with Diana began in 1981 when the royal came into her London boutique with her friend (and later wife of Prince Andrew) Sarah Ferguson.  The pair browsed the shop like any other customers – despite Diana’s recent engagement to the then-Prince of Wales.

After the two friends perused the racks, Zandra received an unexpected call – it came from British Vogue, which was asking her to submit a design for Diana’s royal wedding dress.

While Zandra’s black corset sketch never became the wedding royal dress, it did end up in the possession of perhaps the next most famous Diana – Diana Ross.

And it was not the end of the road for the Princess and Zandra – the pair went on to work together five times in total.

In 1986, Diana returned to Zandra’s shop and picked out a black dress to be remade in pink. The garment became one of the statement pieces worn by Diana during an official visit to Japan that same year.

Zandra recalled the experience of working with Diana, saying: ‘You get let into the palace with this dress over your arm and you do a curtsy, and you bump into the children’s toys.’

She continued: ‘Happy wasn’t a word I would have associated with her, but she was very warm.

Diana is photographed in one of Zandra Rhode’s designs in July, 1987 at Charleston Manor, Seaford. It is the same dress that became a statement piece of her official visit to Japan a year prior

Diana first visited Zandra Rhode’s London boutique in 1981 with Sarah Ferguson (Zandra is seen in 2019) 

‘Diana got a raw deal. You can have all the riches in the world, but if you don’t have love, or don’t feel loved, you have very little.’

While she has experienced enormous success in her career, it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the designer, who opened her first shop in London in 1967 and is renowned for her imaginative use of colour and vivid prints.

The fashion and textile designer has been open about her health struggles, which started during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zandra had just begun a yoga session in her flat with her best friend, artist Andrew Logan when she realised something was amiss.

‘We were lying there, on our little lilac mats, and my stomach felt full,’ she told the Daily Mail in 2021. ‘I thought, “It can’t be full — I haven’t eaten anything”.’

She went to her doctor, and then for tests, which revealed a tumour. Three months of chemotherapy, then immunotherapy followed, all during the first lockdown.

‘Right at the beginning… they said I’d probably got six months to live. I said, “What?!”, she shrieked recalling her shock. ‘I said, “I’ve got lots of projects coming up. I’ve got to last longer than that!”.

The British designer (seen in 2020) has recently released her fifth book – Iconic: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects

‘And then I had my treatment and they said I’d probably got at least two years. That gives me time to get myself together and get things done.’

‘What I don’t understand is why it didn’t worry me. I just had to pull myself together. The amount of work I’ve got to get through!

‘I’ve got 100 chests of clothes because I never sold my original designs so we’ve been cataloguing and repairing them.’

She added: ‘I’m consolidating my legacy. If I hadn’t got work, I wouldn’t have pulled through. Work keeps driving me forward. You have to get all the tasks done in time. Because of the lockdown, you weren’t allowed to have anyone with you at the clinic… I just got in an Uber and went.’ 

Despite the doctor’s initial prediction, Zandra has recently released her fifth book – Iconic: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects.