EXCLUSIVE: Princess Diana 'Refused to Wear Chanel' As Brand's Logo 'Reminded Her Of Prince Charles' Affair With Camilla Parker Bowles'
Princess Diana refused to wear Chanel because its logo reminded her of Charles and Camilla.
Oct. 16 2025, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Princess Diana stopped wearing Chanel in the years following her divorce – and RadarOnline.com can reveal her decision was driven by the fact the brand's famous interlocking Cs reminded her of the then-Prince Charles' affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.
The Princess of Wales, who had been one of the most photographed women in the world, had long favored Chanel's elegant suits and accessories early in her royal life.
But after her 1996 divorce from now-King Charles, she found the label's logo too painful a reminder of the betrayal that had defined much of their marriage.
The Pain Behind the Double Cs
The double Cs became a painful reminder of betrayal.
A royal source said: "For Diana, clothes always carried meaning – they reflected how she felt as much as how she looked. Chanel had once been a favorite, but after the divorce, the double Cs took on a different weight. What used to stand for elegance came to represent pain."
The insider added: "That logo was an immediate reminder of Charles and Camilla. Once she made that connection, she couldn't bring herself to wear it again."
Designer Reveals Diana's Refusal
Designer Jayson Brundson witnessed her Chanel refusal firsthand.
Australian designer Jayson Brundson, who worked with Diana during her final visit to Sydney in 1996, also recalled her aversion firsthand. When she was preparing for a charity event, he suggested a pair of Chanel shoes to accompany her cream Versace skirt suit. She refused.
"She said, 'No, I can't wear linked Cs, the double C,'" Brundson said – adding: "I asked why, and she said, 'It's Camilla and Charles.'"
Brundson also explained: "It was definitely the timing, it being post-divorce. She would have seen linked Cs and they would have just reminded her of Charles and Camilla. The shoes had gold Chanel emblems on them, and I think for photo optics, it would have been picked up immediately given how raw everything still was."
Painful Memories From the Marriage
Diana said, 'I can’t wear linked Cs — it’s Camilla and Charles.'
The association between Chanel's logo and her then-husband's infidelity went back years for Diana. During her disastrous royal marriage, the People's Princess reportedly discovered a pair of cufflinks Charles owned engraved with intertwined Cs – which she interpreted as a personal symbol of his relationship with Camilla.
A royal insider said: "It's astonishing that someone as educated and worldly as the Prince of Wales could be so thoughtless – completely unable to see how his new wife might react to finding reminders of his former lover among his things."
In Andrew Morton's 1992 biography Diana: Her True Story, the Princess spoke openly about Charles' ongoing relationship with Camilla. She recounted hearing her husband on the phone to his mistress while bathing, saying: "Whatever happens, I will always love you." She said she confronted him afterward – leading to what she described as a "filthy row."
From Heartbreak to Healing Through Fashion
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The People’s Princess rebuilt her image with Versace and Dior.
Even before their wedding in July 1981, Diana had been aware of Charles' attachment to Camilla. Weeks before the ceremony, she learned he had commissioned a bracelet for her rival inscribed with the initials 'G' and 'F' – their pet names for each other, Gladys and Fred.
"I was devastated," Diana recalled. "I told my sisters, 'I can't marry him, I can't do this.' They said, 'Well, bad luck Duch, your face is on the tea towels – you're too late to chicken out.'"
After the separation, Diana embraced a new fashion identity defined by Versace, Dior and Catherine Walker, deliberately leaving behind the royal uniform that once included Chanel.
Yet just before her death in 1997, she appeared to make peace with her past – wearing a Chanel bracelet and bag during a trip to New York two months before the Paris car crash that ended her life.
