Previously unseen photo of Princess Diana as a 16-year-old bridesmaid at her sister’s wedding sells for £7,000 at auction

• The image emerged from the archive of royal fashion designer Bill Pashley
• READ MORE: Rare glimpse of Charles and Diana during happier times: Cards from late royal to fashion designer Bill Pashley show couple on honeymoon 

A previously unseen photo of a 16-year-old Princess Diana as a bridesmaid at her sister’s wedding has come to light.

In the snap, taken in 1978, shows a fresh-faced teen Diana in a long white and red patterned dress and holding a bouquet of roses.

Jane Spencer married Robert Fellowes, the assistant private secretary to the Queen, at Westminster Abbey on 20 April 1978.

It was a year after Diana was first introduced to Charles, who briefly dated her older sister Sarah, at a grouse hunt.

The image, which emerged from the archive of royal fashion designer Bill Pashley, sold for more than £7,000 at Hansons Auctioneers of Etwall, Derbyshire.

Princess Diana (second from left) was a bridesmaid at her sister Jane’s wedding at Westminster Abbey on 20 April 1978

It also included a letter by Princess Diana three weeks after the Royal Wedding in which she joked the Scottish climate had turned her honeymoon tan ‘light blue’.

Diana and Prince Charles had just returned to Balmoral following their honeymoon around the Mediterranean on Royal Yacht Britannia at the time of writing in August 1981.

She struggled to get into her room at first due to boxes of skirts and Scottish wear that had been sent to her by the late Mr Pashley.

She send him a letter thanking him for making her outfits to wear during her stay at Balmoral.

She referenced her wedding 19 days earlier at St Paul’s Cathedral, saying she could remember ‘most of what went on.’

‘When I arrived back here, it was difficult to get into my room, due to two huge boxes blocking all form of entrance!,’ she penned.

‘A million thanks for doing all the skirts and generally everything so quickly. They’ll keep me going for a while!

‘Ever since our return, I have remained a light blue from the cold as the places where we went were boiling and for once I’ve gone a decent colour!!

The letter Diana sent to Bill Pashley dated October 6th, 1980, was also part of the lot

Another letter, sent to Bill Pashley from Balmoral dated August 17th, 1981,  is part of the set

‘I do hope that you had a good view at St. Paul’s [of the wedding], funnily enough I remember most of what went on!

‘Dearest Bill, you are just the kindest of people to have done all my Scottish wear and it’s enormously appreciated.’

The archive was consigned for auction by the family of Mr Pashley, who died in 2014.

Along with it were 13 Royal Christmas cards Diana had sent to Bill from 1981 to 1994.

The 1981 festive greeting carries a wedding photograph of the happy newly-wedded couple.

Meanwhile, the cards for 1982 and 1984 include pictures of Prince William as a baby and William and a newborn Prince Harry respectively.

All  the cards have photos of the family of four up until 1992 – the year it was announced that Charles and Diana were separating.

For 1993 and 1994, the Christmas cards contained photos of Diana and her two boys.

Photos of Diana and Charles were also included in the lot

‘The strong results achieved for Christmas cards and a letter relating to the life and times of Diana, Princess of Wales, underline her importance and enduring popularity,’ auctioneer Charles Hanson explained.

‘She was adored not just by this nation but by people all over the world. Her tragic death in a car accident in 1997 prompted an exceptional response and outpouring of love.

‘There is a deep fascination with her life and keen royalists will always want to own items connected to her.’

Mr Pashley’s other clients included Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and opera singers Dame Margaret Price and Dame Gwyneth Jones.

He was from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and studied at the Royal College of Art in London.

He had a long and successful career specialising in wedding dresses for the rich and famous.

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