The wardrobe item that made Princess Diana feel like a 'normal mother', according to her bodyguard

According to Princess Diana's former bodyguard, her athletic Philadelphia Eagles jacket was the wardrobe item that made her feel like a 'normal mother'.

Princess Diana is known for many things - but most notably, she is often revered for her impeccable and enduring style, with her best style moments still being reviewed even 30 years after her death. From her iconic revenge dress, to her famed biker shorts and crewneck post-gym look, and even her legendary sheep sweater, she had many ensembles during her time as a royal that sparked discussion and inspiration. Recently, however, one of the Princess' former bodyguards revealed which wardrobe item of hers made her feel most like a "normal" mum.

Of course, when Diana was on royal engagements, she was oft seen wearing suits and tailored dresses, even sometimes rewearing those most sophisticated items in new and exciting ways. There was one casual item she owned, however, that really made her feel comfortable and "normal" on her off days though, according to one of her former bodyguards Ken Wharfe - her Philadelphia Eagles varsity jacket. 

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"Diana always craved the normalcy," Ken explained to ESPN for a segment on their Sunday NFL Countdown. 

"By being a member of the royal family, that was almost impossible. Neither William nor Harry, when they were kids, wanted their mother to sort of dress in her finery, take them to school. So all Diana would do is be as casual as possible."

As she was often seen wearing the jacket around her boys, Princes William and Harry, Ken said that she just wanted to be thought of as a "normal mother" and this jacket was symbolic of that feeling for her. 

"And it wasn't there to impress the people at school. She wanted to be seen as a young mother that was, you know, 'with it,'" he said. "Diana loved to be different, this was her style. It sort of showed the public and her children that she was a normal mother in a style that people liked."

She wore the jacket many different ways - some days, she paired it simply with jeans, but on others, she styled it in a bit more of a fashion-forward sense. As pictured above, she once wore the kelly green varsity jacket with a sleek dark blue knee-length skirt, a large black belt, some sheer black tights and a pair of black ballet pumps (which, by the way, are super trendy right now). 

But how exactly did Princess Diana procure this very American coat? Was she an Eagles fan?

Turns out, she first got the coat after meeting Philadelphia Eagles statistician Jack Edelstein at the funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco in the early 1980s - and after getting to talking with Jack, he decided that he would send her a jacket after she revealed that her favourite colours were green and silver. 

Of course, Diana wasn't necessarily an Eagles fan, but she wore the jacket as though she was. "This jacket wasn't just on a floor of her wardrobe in a palace," Ken remarked. "If Diana were alive today, she'd be excited to know that this jacket, 25, 30 years on, has now become the subject of very positive public scrutiny. I think that's fantastic."