How Princess Diana's 'charming' rejection letter to top magazine job reveals beloved royal's 'imposter syndrome'

Princess Diana declined an offer to work at British Vogue in 1996 with a 'charming' rejection letter, the former editor of the renowned fashion magazine has revealed. 

• Princess Diana's 'imposter syndrome' surfaces in her 'charming' rejection letter to a top  journalism job, royal fans have claimed. 
• The Princess of Wales turned down the opportunity to guest-edit British Vogue in 1996 over concerns she wouldn't be able to do the job justice, a former editor of the renowned fashion magazine has revealed. 
• In other royal news, Zara Tindall shares struggle to get her 'body back' after having three kids.
  

Princess Diana turned down a chance to guest edit British Vogue with a characteristically humble letter, admitting she thought it would be 'best for everybody' if she graciously declined the offer. 

Alexandra Shulman, the former editor of the iconic fashion magazine, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a photo of the 'charming' note that she'd "forgotten all about" with her 92k followers. Typed on Kensington Palace stationery and dated June 1996, the historic letter was sent just fourteen months before Diana's tragic death in Paris. 

In the short note, Diana politely rejects Shulman's invitation to guest edit a Christmas edition of British Vogue before laying out some self-deprecating reasons for her decision. 

"I am enormously touched to have been asked but as I know I could never emulate your mastery of this job I think it would be best (for everybody!) if I decline," the late mother of Prince William and Prince Harry writes. 

"Thank you again for what must have been a very brave decision to invite me!" she adds. She then signs off the letter with "Yours sincerely," and an inked signature.

Speaking to the Daily Mail (opens in new tab), Shulman admitted she was disappointed that Diana didn't accepted the offer. "I wish she had agreed to guest edit Vogue," the English journalist, who was the Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue between 1992 until 2017, told Eden Confidential's Richard Eden. "Together, we would have produced something very entertaining."

Shulman acknowledged, however, that Diana's refusal may have been justified. 

"She may well have been wiser not to," the 65-year-old said. "She knew her strengths and limitations, and was savvy enough to see the problems that could lie ahead." 

Royal fans have been quick to share their reaction to Diana's letter, with many commenting on the late princess's impeccable manners and trademark humility. 

"So charming. She had the best manners - the number of notes she must have written," screenwriter Jemima Goldsmith remarked, while another person wrote, "Even princesses get imposter syndrome." 

"Aw she was a master of the polite decline," Sam McKnight, Princess Diana's former hairstylist, wrote. "I can almost hear her say it to herself." 

Diana appeared on three British Vogue covers throughout her lifetime, gracing the front of the iconic fashion publication for the final time in July 1994. Meghan Markle would become the first royal to lend her creative skills to British Vogue in 2019, guest editing a landmark issue of the magazine entitled 'Forces for Change'.