Princess Diana's famous "revenge dress" is expected to sell for up to £220,000 when it goes under the hammer later this year. The iconic black silk gown will be on public display in London next month ahead of the auction, more than 30 years after it first made headlines worldwide.
The Princess of Wales was photographed wearing the dress in 1994 on the same night the then-Prince Charles publicly admitted his infidelity on national television. The outfit quickly became a fashion statement, breaking traditional expectations of royal dress with its colour, plunging neckline and above-the-knee hemline.
Auction details and estimate
The dress will be auctioned at Sotheby's in New York on December 9 as part of its luxury week. It is estimated to sell for between $150,000 and $300,000 (£110,000 to £220,000).
Designed by Christina Stambolian, the dress was worn by Princess Diana during a Vanity Fair fundraising dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in London. The December auction will be the first time this piece of Diana's wardrobe has been up for sale since June 1997, when the Princess sold 79 of her dresses to raise funds for cancer and Aids charities.
Charity proceeds and exhibition tour
Part of the proceeds from the upcoming sale will be donated to NHS Lothian Charity on behalf of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, which is dedicated to funding extra care, equipment and projects.
The "revenge dress" will be among several other items on sale, including a copy of the original catalogue, numbered and signed by Diana and Stambolian, crediting the Prince of Wales with the idea of the charity fundraiser.
Fans can see the dress before the sale through a global exhibition tour. It will be on display at Sotheby's auction house in London from September 18 to September 24, and at Sotheby's locations in Hong Kong, Geneva and New York.
Owner and expert remarks
The current owner, who bought the dress during its original sale, said: "My late husband and I knew that this dress was something special. Princess Diana was walking into the worst night of her life and you would never know it to look at her."
Morgane Halimi, Sotheby's global head of handbags and fashion, said: "Fashion can be a language when words fail or are simply not enough. Princess Diana understood that instinctively." She added: "What became a global viral moment - long before social media made the term mundane - also gave licence to anyone, but especially women, to use fashion beyond adornment and much more intentionally and meaningfully: as a shield, a weapon or both."
