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She’s not in a glamorous gown or in a royal setting, but there’s no doubt the woman in the colourful print bikini and unbuttoned purple shirt is the People’s Princess.
The candid snap was one of a few never-before-seen photos posted on Thursday by Giancarlo Giammetti (82), the co-founder of Italian fashion house Valentino.
Taken onboard the fashion brand’s private yacht in Italy, it shows the then-29-year-old royal in conversation with Prince Kyril of Preslav (now 56) of Bulgaria and Giancarlo, one of her close pals and whose designs she often wore.
It’s thought to be taken around September 1990 – a time where Diana’s marriage was already all but over and her two-year fling with household cavalry officer James Hewitt had run its course.
Giancarlo shared another photo of him and the princess at a formal event. The mom-of-two is seen wearing a chic white blazer over a turquoise dress. It’s not known when it was taken.
His post comes after the release of the fourth season of the hit Netflix series The Crown. The season takes place between 1979 and 1990 and focuses on the first nine years of marriage between Charles and Diana, who wed in 1981.
In 1992 they officially split and their divorce was finalised in 1996. Tragically a year later, on 31 August 1997, Diana and her companion, Dodi Fayed, were killed in a car crash in Paris.
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, express.co.uk, Instagram
