In August 1997, Princess Diana was on the brink of a new life. Free from the rules of the British monarchy, her style had evolved beyond traditional royal dressing into A-list glamour. Her creative ally was British designer Jacques Azagury, whose sleek, sparkling evening gowns gave her the confidence to embrace a new chapter.
Speaking at an exclusive HELLO! live podcast event at the Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences, London last month, Jacques shared a heartbreaking story about the final chapter of their partnership, revealing the existence of an unfinished dress that became an unexpected reminder of her final days.
In the weeks leading up to her fatal trip to Paris, Diana had visited Jacques' studio for a dress fitting. The glamorous gown was intended for a major Disney fundraising premiere and with its very high slit and opulent train, it marked a departure from anything she had worn before.
"It was really Hollywood," Jacques recalled. "And it would have knocked all those dresses out for six, you know? It was a really low, high-slit black gown, with black beads and a big train. It was super Hollywood red carpet."
During that final fitting, Jacques could see how content Diana was. "That period was the happiest I've ever seen her and you could really tell the difference," Jacques remembered. "And that last fitting really brought it home."
The dress was pinned, waiting for her return from France for the final hand-stitching. "The straps would be the last things I would do on the dress. So we were waiting for the Princess to come back. So they were just pinned," he said. "And sadly, she never got to wear it."
The gown was never worn. Instead, it became an unfinished record of a life cut short. Years later, when American collector Renae Plant acquired the archival contents of Jacques' workshop to preserve Diana's legacy in a dedicated Los Angeles museum, the designer offered to finish the garment. "When she bought it I said, 'Would you want me to finish it?'" Jacques revealed. "She said, 'No, no, no, just leave them pinned, because that's part of the story.'"
Today, the dress remains exactly as Diana left it, held together by the very pins that brushed her skin just days before her death.
Diana's birthday dress
Very much a partnership, earlier that summer for her 36th birthday, Jacques had surprised Diana by creating a bespoke, black floor-length version of a short ice blue Chantilly lace dress she had completely fallen in love with. The gown was luxurious, adorned with thousands of meticulously embroidered beads and sequins.
Diana was so enamoured with her birthday gift that she changed her outfit for a high-profile charity gala at the Tate Gallery that evening, setting aside her pre-planned outfit to wear Jacques' surprise creation instead.
© Getty Images
© Tim Graham Photo Library via Get"She ended up wearing it to the Tate centenary, and she was supposed to wear another dress that evening," Jacques noted. "I think as a thank you to me she wore that, and she sent me a lovely letter saying how excited she was when she opened the parcel and saw the dress. And she was always writing, always sending cards and things."
That lace gown would become the final dress the public would see Diana wear to an official engagement. Nearly three decades on, Jacques still remembers the shock of learning about the crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.
An untimely death
"I was coming back from the club at five in the morning," he shared. "I got home and the phone was ringing, ringing, ringing. So I picked it up and it was a girlfriend of mine. She said, 'Have you heard?' and I said, 'What?' She said, 'Diana's died.' And she literally had to repeat it four or five times for it to sink in.
"I couldn't speak to her, I literally just hung up. And I started just cleaning stuff, which was miraculous because I never cleaned. I was truly, truly shocked."
Attending her funeral at Westminster Abbey, Jacques joined mourners from around the world paying tribute to a woman whose influence extended far beyond the monarchy. "I think she really was a phenomenon that we will not see again for a very long time," he said. "If ever."
Today, while her dresses command millions at global auctions, Jacques' unfinished Hollywood gown in Los Angeles remains perhaps the most poignant reminder of the future Diana never had.
How to watch the podcast episode
Watch the full episode of HELLO!'s special live A Right Royal Podcast episode below:
