Anthony Gordon’s experiences on the football field drastically differ from the life of the late Princess Diana, yet his hairstyling choices draw unexpected comparisons to the royal.

Yet there is one surprising feature that seems to unite the pair – their incredible hair.

Fans on social media couldn’t help but point out that the Newcastle United player’s hairstyles bear a striking similarity to those famously worn by the late Princess of Wales.

From her iconic blonde bob to sleek styles accessorized with a headband, it’s easy to wonder if Gordon has taken a page out of Lady Di’s style book.

Diana’s hair was her crowning glory and helped pave the way for some of the biggest hair trends of the ’80s and ’90s.

At the age of 19, when Lady Diana Spencer first entered the public spotlight, she introduced the world to her signature hairstyle, known for its volume and layers.

Her 1980s flicked and feathered look, which earned her the moniker ‘Shy Di’ was modern and short – an unconventional look for a future princess.

The ‘Diana’ style quickly garnered a global following, with women attempting to emulate the distinct look. Magazines even provided guides, encouraging readers to show the sketches to their hairdressers.

Now, it appears this iconic hairstyle might be seeing an unexpected revival, as Gordon’s wavy locks with a fringe appear uncannily reminiscent of Diana’s beloved style.

Stylist Richard Dalton, who played a key role in creating Diana’s early look, previously told Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine that he met the young princess when she was aged just 17.

He then requested his colleague, Kevin Shanley, to take on what would go on to be arguably his most crucial hair job to date.

Recounting his work with the late princess, Mr Shanley said: ‘Diana loved big hair. We used gallons of hairspray and heated rollers to give her that 80s Dynasty look.’

It seems unlikely that Mr Gordon is sat in the players’ locker room demanding extra time for a quick blow-dry and heated rollers, but there seems almost no denying that his head of hair is eerily akin to Diana, even down to its slightly flicked angle at the ends.

Over the years, Princess Diana would go on to debut shorter and shorter hair, with an iconic image of the princess arriving to New York on the Concorde supersonic jet showed her donning a thick black headband.

And, while perhaps for more practical than stylistic reasons, Mr Gordon can also be seen wearing a similar headband to pull his long locks back while on the pitch. 

However, it was Diana’s intentional shift to a shorter, bolder hairstyle in the 1990s that helped to symbolise her new-found independence, coming not long before her public separation from the now King Charles.

The bold new hairdo was showcased to the world in a black-and-white Vogue cover shoot, now one of the most iconic photos of the royal to have ever been taken.

But rather than being pre-planned, celebrity hairstylist Sam McKnight, had spontaneously cut Diana’s hair, at her own request, during the shoot that very day.

Recalling the decision to give the princess her sporty pixie cut, Mr McKnight, speaking on Vogue Visionaries, said back in 2021: ‘We had a really lovely day and we were doing facial portraits for [British Vogue] magazine and [Diana] wore a tiara and I made her hair look short under the tiara.

‘This was 1990, I made it look short under the tiara – I faked it a bit… At the end of the day she said, ‘What would you do with my hair if I was to say “just do anything?” and I said “I would cut it all off and just start again”

‘So she said, “Well, why don’t you just cut it off now?”, so I cut it off then and we never looked back.’

In a 2017 documentary, titled ‘Diana In Her Own Words’, the late princess is asked by a friend: ‘What have been the turning moments in life that turned you from victim to victor?’

In response, the late Princess said: ‘I suppose when Sam cut my hair differently, it let out something quite different.’ 

As the old saying goes, ‘a woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life’. 

Indeed, Mr Gordon’s locks in January held a significant number of similarities to the late Princess’ more daring cut.

The athlete’s locks, which by the summer had grown in length, appeared to be slightly shorter, a replica of Diana’s bold yet sleek pixie cut.

Meanwhile, Mr Gordon also maintained a few loose bangs that hung over his forehead in an indistinguishable manner to that of the Princess.

Less than a year after joining Newcastle United and ever-keen to impress, was the sporting star perhaps looking to enter the new year with the same clean slate Diana had so desperately hoped for?

In 1993, just three years after debuting her shorter hair, the late Princess was pictured at Thorpe Park with young Prince William and Harry, donning a fashionable black leather jacket and her iconic short cut fit loose curls.

The ‘undone look’ really solidified Diana’s position as ‘the People’s Princess’, with a more carefree and casual, rather than carefully crafted, image.

And Diana’s notable hairstyle appears to have also been replicated by the star-studded footballer. 

Images of Mr Gordon captured in late January show him wearing a messy curled look, while also bearing a similar bright-eyed smile.

Then came the iconic ‘wet look’ that the Princess wore during an appearance at the Council of Fashion Designers of America Ball hosted in New York in 1995.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr McKnight revealed that while both he and Diana had ‘experimented in private’, it marked the first time she had worn the modern hairstyle publicly, having expressed a desire to ‘do something different’.

And it certainly seems to have stuck. 30 years on, Mr Gordon was pictured arriving at a Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal sporting a slicked back look that looks near identical to that of the late princess.

While visiting Moscow, Russia, in 1995, the Princess of Wales’ hair still held great shape and volume, but with a slightly softer and more natural wave that almost harked back to her famed engagement look. 

Meanwhile, images of Mr Gordon captured while playing during the Carabao Cup Semi Final in January showcased him with a similar large head of hair that also featured a slight wave. 

In the years prior to Diana’s tragic death in Paris in 1997, she made the decision to lighten her hair, introducing feathered layers and blonde highlights to establish a more ‘sunkissed’ natural look.

And for Mr Gordon, the ever-tempting desire to go lighter was also prominent. 

Images captured while he still played for Everton in 2023 showed him proudly sporting an incredibly similar bleach blonde look with a smudged darker root, perhaps a node to Diana’s famous golden locks in her ‘golden age’. 

Princess Diana’s global influence undoubtedly still lives on to this day, with her short-layered bob making a huge comeback in 2025 as hairstylists still work tirelessly to achieve the timeless look.

And so while a footballer’s career seemingly bears a distant relation to the late Princess, her immortal hairstyles mean that we could be witnessing an increasing number of lookalikes on the pitch for many years to come.