Gallery: These Pictures of Barbara Cartland Will Brighten Up Your Day

Dame Barbara Cartland may have left us in 2000, but the 98 year old left us with hundreds of iconic classic romance novels, an album of romantic standards, and a sense of style that would make her an icon of kitsch and high camp. The author of The Wicked Marquis, The Poor Governess, and A Ghost in Monte Carlo – as well as near 700 other titles, became a British institution – dipping her immaculately manicured toes into the world of music, aviation, and politics – yet Barbara’s aesthetic style may be her most iconic feature. Adorned in a pink chiffon gown, plumed hat, blonde wig, and heavy make-up, the image of the iconic novelist is a hard one to forget.

We celebrate some of Barbara’s most eye-catching shots in this new visual feature. Enjoy them below!

“After forty a woman has to choose between losing her figure or her face. My advice is to keep your face, and stay sitting down.” Barbara Cartland