The Beauty Product Princess Diana Loved, That Prince Charles Hated

Behind Princess Diana's always impeccable elegance, there was a beauty secret that created tensions within Buckingham Palace. Then-Prince Charles banned a key product in his wife's routine. But, despite her husband's resistance, Diana never wanted to part with it.

The product was the result of a collaboration between celebrity hairstylist Sam McKnight and cosmetologist Sheree Ladove Funsch: It was a hairspray created specifically for Princess Diana. Unlike traditional hairsprays that stiffen hair, this hairspray used a natural resin that provided hold without compromising hair movement. It became an indispensable ally for Lady Diana, especially after her helicopter flights, so much so that it earned the nickname "Helicopter Hairspray."

Charles never made a secret of how he felt about it: He loudly despised the product and claimed it was damaging to the environment. According to Majesty Magazine editor Ingrid Seward in the documentary Charles: Our New King (2022), the prince claimed that the aerosols contained in the hairspray were harmful to the ozone layer. Diana, at her husband's first explanation, reacted with an incredulous smile. For Charles, however, this was no laughing matter. Already in the 1980s had he publicly expressed his concern for the environment and, in 1988, announced the total ban on aerosol sprays in his residence.

The princess, however, was not willing to give up the only product that could guarantee her a well-groomed look. Even relying on her own hair stylist, Richard Dalton, who followed her public image, Diana continued to use her custom formula of "Helicopter Hairspray." For her, the practicality and effectiveness of the product were indispensable, regardless of her husband's opinions. This moment in the two-part documentary reveals just one of the many contrasts between Charles and Diana, whose union was infamously far from fairy-tale matrimony.

While he remained firm in his beliefs, Lady Diana did not hesitate to break the rules when she thought it was right to do so. That hairspray was just a detail, but it symbolized something deeper: Diana's desire to remain true to herself, even within the monarchy.