When it comes to Princess Diana‘s dresses, common knowledge is that interest and prices achieved at auctions are pretty high. Earlier this year, ten Princess Diana’s most iconic dresses sold for a whopping amount of £800,000 ($1.2 million), while her two other dresses were sold for a total of $276,000 two years ago. All those dresses we have more or less seen in many photos, but one perhaps least known, is now sold for £102,000, including buyer’s premium, thus exceeded an estimated value between £50,000 and £80,000. The ornate gold and white gown has been sold by Kerry Taylor Auctions in London to a museum overseas.
Designed by duo David and Elizabeth Emanuel, part of their “Diaghilev” collection of 1986, the strapless gown with removable sleeves and a matching headband features sequins, crystals and pearl beads and was worn by Diana on several occasions, including a 1986 visit to the German Embassy, a performance at the Royal Opera House and the premiere of the James Bond film “The Living Daylights” in 1987.
“This dress was a real favorite of hers,” Kerry Taylor told CNN. “It’s the kind of dress that a little girl sitting down at school will draw when she’s asked to draw a princess.”
Diana first laid eyes on the dress at a Red Cross benefit fashion show in the summer of 1986, and she loved it so much that, unusually, she decided to acquire the show model rather than commission a unique gown from the designers. The dress is a UK standard size 10, which fitted Diana perfectly.
