Princess Diana made a major protocol change for royal women

Princess Diana was a true trailblazer, from her iconic style moments to her determination to be human, even abandoning the royal protocol of wearing gloves so she could have direct contact with people that she met. She later went on to stop wearing hats, famously saying, "You can’t cuddle a child in a hat."

Unafraid to break royal protocol, Princess Diana was a real pioneer, with news resurfacing this week that she is actually responsible for changing the way that royal women give birth.

Yes, really.

Royal births going as far back as the 1840s meant undergoing a "twilight sleep", whereby the baby would be pulled out with forceps while the mother was under general anaesthetic, something that Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II both reportedly opted for in order to have a painless drama-free birth.

Princess Diana however bucked tradition, credited with kickstarting radical changes for royal child birth in hospitals.

Not only did Princess Diana choose to remain awake and have a natural childbirth, she also chose to give birth standing up, with natural childbirth expert Sheila Kitzinger recalling that Diana didn’t want to lie down, choosing to "give birth in an upright position."

"I said that Charles looked strong enough to hold her," Kitzinger recalled. "And that is what happened."

She continued: "It was the first active royal birth - a complete contrast to the Queen’s."

Princess Diana’s most famous decision when it came to giving birth however, was her choice to buck the royal tradition of giving birth at Kensington Palace.

Instead, the late Princess of Wales chose to give birth to Prince William and Prince Harry at St. Mary’s hospital in Paddington, something that has now become somewhat of a royal tradition.

Her daughters-in-law Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, have since followed suit, opting to give birth to their children in hospitals, with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis even born in the same wing.

Princess Diana - ever the trailblazer!