Princess Diana Wore Special Low-Heeled Shoes on Her Wedding Day to Avoid Being Taller than Prince Charles

Royal weddings are huge events and, as such, every detail is meticulously planned out. At Princess Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles in 1981, this included special attention that was paid to her footwear for the big day.

In his book Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, royal biographer and historian Robert Lacey describes the very special shoes that Diana wore for a very specific reason on her wedding day. In the book, Lacey writes:

“The bride’s intricate ivory taffeta gown was paired with a lace veil no less than 153 yards long, together with an eighteenth-century heirloom tiara, while her silk bridal slippers were embroidered with 542 sequins and 132 matching pearls—the heels kept deliberately low so as not to upstage the groom: at five foot ten, Diana was exactly the same height as Charles.”

While that’s a less-than-great reason to let dictate your heel height, the shoes themselves were undeniably gorgeous:

William Thomas CainGetty Images

Of course, Diana made a point of showing that she was standing tall in the ways that counted on her wedding day.

“When it came to the couple’s wedding vows,” Lacey wrote, “Diana was the first bride in royal history to promise to love, honor and cherish her husband but not necessarily to ‘obey.'”

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