Must-see photos of Princess Diana in New York

Princess Diana turned the sidewalks of New York City into spectacles! In The Diana Chronicles, author Tina Brown wrote that when the royal left her NYC hotel to attend an event in 1995, “a crowd of about two hundred fans were waiting on the pavement to applaud. The street was ablaze with TV lamps and the flashbulbs of thirty photographers waiting to get the front-page shot of the Princess in her clinging black evening dress with its plunging scoop neckline.”

Despite the waiting crowds, it wasn’t the Princess’ first visit to the Big Apple. Diana undertook her first solo tour of New York in 1989 and returned multiple times throughout the 1990s, including just two months before her death.

It was in the Concrete Jungle where she reportedly met with John F. Kennedy Jr. and rode in an elevator with both Michael Jackson and Steve Jobs. The Princess also hit the steps of the city’s iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Met Gala and walked hand-in-hand with Mother Teresa in the Bronx.

HELLO! will be exploring Diana and other royals’ love affair with the city during an event in Manhattan on June 9. We’ll be hosting a living taping of A Right Royal Podcast, where our Royal Editor Emily Nash will also share intimate stories from her life on the royal beat.

What’s included in the ticket?
An intimate live podcast recording in Chelsea, New York City
Access to HELLO!’s Royal Editor Emily Nash sharing untold royal stories
Q&A with the audience
Welcome drink on arrival
Goodie bag to take home

Before HELLO! goes live in the city, take a walk down memory lane with these photos of Princess Diana in NYC..

Diana traveled across the pond in February 1989 for a tour of New York.

© Getty ImagesDuring her trip, Diana visited the AIDS unit at Harlem Hospital. According to Harlem World, Dr. Margaret Heagarty said: “Our own royalty, whatever that is, being a democracy or a republic or whatever, have not done anything nearly so symbolic as these things you are doing today.”

While in town, the royal stopped by the famous toy store FAO Schwarz. “Our view is that this is a fun, happy and positive experience for her,” FAO Schwarz CEO Peter Harris said the day before Diana’s visit, via Eyewitness News. “And we are all just going to be ourselves and hope she enjoys the spirt that is toys.”

The Princess was a vision in a white gown and matching bolero jacket for a night out at the Winter Garden for a gala dinner.

Diana, pictured in January 1995, would stay at The Carlyle Hotel, located on the corner of Madison Avenue and 76th Street on the Upper East Side.

Diana, pictured leaving The Carlyle in June 1997, reportedly met with John F. Kennedy Jr. at the NYC hotel in the summer of 1995. According to PEOPLE, JFK Jr. was hoping to get the Princess to pose for the cover of his magazine, George. Per the outlet, the meeting took place in the Princess’ suite.

Diana, seen leaving The Carlyle in December 1996, is said to have ridden in an elevator with Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson at the hotel. “The most famous elevator ride in history took place in The Carlyle. Because one of the guys that operates the elevator said to me, ‘You know, we once had Princess Diana, Michael Jackson and Steve Jobs all at the same time.’ Now, that is a power elevator,” Piers Morgan said in the 2018 documentary Always at The Carlyle. “It was completely silent until Diana began singing Beat It.”

Diana’s son Prince William and daughter-in-law Catherine followed in her footsteps, staying at her favorite hotel, The Carlyle, during their 2014 visit to NYC. In the documentary Always at The Carlyle, the hotel’s former director of communications, Jennifer Cooke, said: “I think definitely stayed here at The Carlyle because Princess Diana used to stay here, and she was very fond of this hotel, and I know they had heard about it. I heard him [William] say that in the lobby that he heard so much about this hotel through the years and they were really happy to be here.”

In January 1995, Diana attended the CFDA Fashion Awards, where she presented an award to her “close friend, confidante and Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar Elizabeth Tilberis.”

“Ladies and gentleman, I am immensely proud to be here in New York with you all,” the Princess said on stage, “to be giving this award to a lady of my own country, who is also a dear friend and whose talent and courage has been an inspiration to us all.”

Diana with Henry Kissinger and Colin Powell at the 41st annual United Cerebral Palsy Awards gala in 1995.

Diana accepted the UCP Humanitarian Award at the 1995 United Cerebral Palsy Awards gala during her visit to NYC that December. She said in her speech: “Today is the day of compassion. Let’s not wait to be prompted, but let us go out tonight, tomorrow and the days that follow, and let us demonstrate our humanity.”

The royal held hands with Mother Teresa during a visit to the Bronx in June 1997.

Princess Diana, accompanied by Liz Tilberis, attended her first and only Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 1996, wearing a dress by John Galliano.

Princes William and Harry’s mother was pictured out in the city on June 23, 1997, dressed in a chic skirt suit.

In June 1997, Diana sold 79 of her dresses at a Christie’s Auction in New York.

The Princess pictured laughing at a pre-auction party at Christie’s New York.

Per Christie’s, the Princess wore a pearl-embroidered sheath dress, which she dubbed the “Elvis dress,” to a cocktail reception before the auction. The royal’s “Elvis dress” ended up selling for $151,000.⠀

The auction in NYC was attended by more than 1,100 people, and raised $3.25 million for cancer and AIDS charities, according to Christie’s.

Want even more exclusive royal content, unrivalled expert insight, instant digital access to HELLO!’s weekly issues and our full archive, as well as discounts to our in-house events? Sign up to HELLO! VIP for just $6 a month.