Princess Diana dress sells for record $1.1 million at auction

Evening dress worn by the late Royal sold for 11 times its estimate, breaking the record price for one of her gowns


Reuters December 19, 2023
Princess Diana dress sells for record $1.1 million at auction

LONDON:

An evening dress worn by the late Princess Diana has sold for $1.1 million, 11 times its estimate, breaking the record price for one of her gowns going under the hammer, Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions said.

Diana first wore the black and blue ballerina-length evening dress, by designer Jacques Azagury, in Florence in 1985. She was also photographed in it a year later on a visit to Vancouver, the auction house said. The dress, along with a matching illustration, sold for$1,148,080, Julien's Auctions said on Sunday, after listing it with an estimate of $100,000 - $200,000.

"Julien’s now holds the new world record for most expensive dress worn by Princess Diana sold at auction," it said in a statement, adding that the previous auction record was $604,800.

The dress is made up of a long black velvet bodice embroidered with blue stars and a two-tier blue organza skirt adorned with a sash and bow. It was sold as part of the four-day Hollywood Legends sale by Julien's Auctions and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), which featured a range of memorabilia.

A pink chiffon blouse which Diana wore for her 1981 engagement portrait to then Prince Charles by Lord Snowdon sold for $381,000. The blouse, by David and Elizabeth Emanuel who went on to design Diana's wedding dress, had an estimate of $80,000 - $100,000.

The other two items sold were a scarlet red silk Bruce Oldfield gown and two designs by Catherine Walker: a black silk velvet and white silk crepe strapless gown. Worn by Princess Diana to the premiere of the film Hot Shots! starring Charlie Sheen in November 1991, the short-sleeved ruched Bruce Oldfield dress went for $571,500 when it was initially estimated to go for $200,000 (£160,450). 

The black and jade Catherine Walker design with a minimum purchase price of $100,000 — which was worn by the princess to a gala dinner at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Canada, in 1991 — was bought for $571,500, per Daily Mail.

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