 | While Diana liked long coats for her private wardrobe, by the mid to late 80's she had come to dislike them for public engagements, feeling they were too bulky. Except for diplomatic choices for overseas tours - Escada in Germany, Chanel in France - or an occasional crisply tailored one by Catherine Walker, it became rare to see her in one on an 'away day'. It was therefore somewhat unusual when she wore this oversized houndstooth coat with velvet collar and big cuffs, seen the month before en route to a ski vacation in Switzerland with the Yorks (Right) on a day of engagements to the northeast (Teeside) with Charles in March of 1987. (Left)
By this time, their marriage disintegrating, it was also increasingly rare for Diana and Charles to undertake day engagements together, and the event had not shown up the month previously on their official calendar. With the palace trying to quell rumors of problems (in fact, the aforementioned ski vacation included a peeved Charles vocally upbraiding Diana as she horsed with Fergie on a photocall), it's possible that this event was hastily scheduled to present them as a united front, and Diana didn't have time to plan out a more usual outfit and just grabbed a coat from her closet.
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