Princess Diana had ‘wicked’ sense of humour and loved to prank people
Princess Diana had a cheeky habit for pranking, claims her former friend and hairdresser Richard Dalton and even carried 'fake vomit and poo' on flights.
When most people think of the late Princess Diana, the first thought that often springs to mind is her pioneering charity work or impeccable sense of style - but one little known fact about the former Princess of Wales is quite how bit a prankster she really was.
Recalling a side of the Princess that was world’s away from her usual poised and polished royal persona, Diana’s former hairstylist Richard Dalton revealed a surprising insight into her character over the decade he worked with her in his new book It’s All About the Hair - My Decade with Diana.
“After seeing her every day for over a decade, it was fun to relive the memories,” Dalton told PEOPLE, adding one of his goals in writing the book was showing “how funny Diana was.”
Writing in his book, which was co-authored by Renae Plant, curator of The Princess Diana Museum, Dalton lifted the lid on the royal’s “amazing, wicked sense of humour” as he added: “Her jokes were hysterical.”
In particular the Princess was said to be constantly telling jokes and playing pranks on unsuspecting victims, with Dalton going so far as to admit that Diana was “very naughty at times” with some of the mischief she’d gotten into.
"She always had plastic vomit or plastic dog poop in her bag to place on people’s seats when we traveled on long flights,” according to Dalton.
The duo worked together for over ten years, with their tenure together dating back before her 1981 wedding to King Charles, up until 1991 when they parted ways. He added, “She was hysterically funny and loved playing jokes on all of us.”
A similar view was shared by Plant, who also commented: “I do find the humorous side of Diana to be very sweet," she says. “She just wanted to be ‘normal’ and was just like the rest of us.”
Although the Princess did meet with considerable hardship during her life, including a messy divorce following her husband's affair with his future wife Queen Camilla, Diana often sought to find humour in even the most dire circumstance, and was often making quick-witted remarks.
Recalling one such instance in his book, Dalton explained how following a hairstyling session with the Princess of Wales, one of Queen Elizabeth’s beloved corgis had managed to sneak into the dressing room where he had been working.
"I was patting it, as I love dogs, when Diana came up and the corgi started to lick her legs,” he wrote.
“She said, ‘Whose dog is that?’ I said, ‘It’s your mother-in-law’s new corgi.’ She replied with a laugh, ‘Well, get it out of here, as it’s licking all the fake suntan off my legs.’ "
