A collection of dresses worn by the late Princess Diana which she auctioned off for charity in London in 1997 herself, will go under the hammer on 5th December in Beverly Hills, California by Julien Auctions. The collection consists of four gowns, all designed for Diana, three of them designed by the late Catherine Walker, Diana’s personal couturier and close friend and one designed by Zandra Rhodes. This one which Diana wore in 1987 to the Birthright Benefit at the London Palladium is estimated to sell for $80,000 to $100,000. Walker’s outfits are estimated to fetch between $60,000 and $100,000.
Bidders with a modest budget could be interested for a pair of cuff-links commemorating Diana and Prince Charles‘ 1981 wedding, valued at $600 to $800.
This isn’t the first time that Princess of Wales’s dresses attracts a lot of interest at auction. Three years ago her fourteen dresses have been auctioned by Toronto auction house Waddington. The seller was Florida entrepreneur Maureen Rorech Dunkel, who paid $700,000 for 14 of the 79 gowns Diana sold at a Christie’s auction in 1997 to raise money for humanitarian causes.
Along with the items, which will be offered by Julien Auctions in December, will be a copy of an oversized catalogue which accompanied the original auction, as well as an invitation to the event; signed by Diana, and valued at between $2,000 and $4,000.
