The ban was very strange.
The marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana remains rife with secrets and mysteries, which occasionally leak into the press. Many of these mysteries can be explained, at least to some extent, by logic and accepted values. However, there are also some that defy explanation.
Secrets of the Royal Family
Just imagine: your future spouse declares that you can’t use certain cosmetics anymore. And this ban applies to the most essential ones—the ones you can’t imagine your beauty routine without before leaving the house.
This is precisely the situation Princess Diana faced during her marriage to Prince Charles. According to royal biographers, when Charles voiced his demand out loud, Diana thought he was crazy.
The thing is, in the late 1980s, Prince Charles imposed an unofficial ban on hairspray at Kensington Palace. This particularly affected Diana herself, who adored hairstyles with a total hold effect.
What’s the matter?
It turns out Charles was convinced that aerosols were harmful to the environment and depleted the ozone layer. Yes, today we know that most modern products no longer contain the ingredients that once raised concerns. But in the 1980s, this issue was actively discussed among educated circles, and ditching nail polish was seen as an environmentally responsible step toward saving the planet.
True, there was another reason, which could easily be called a matter of taste: in addition to preserving the atmosphere, Charles was also guided by personal taste. Photographer David Bailey, who worked with Diana, said that the Princess of Wales was so fond of hairspray that her hairstyles appeared “stiff, like a plastic mannequin.” Perhaps this was true, but the hairstyles always looked perfect.
