It was auctioned, sold, a record was set. Lady Diana’s dress sold at auction for over a million dollars

It is currently the most expensive Princess Diana dress ever sold at auction. When it went up for sale, it was estimated at €95,000 to €190,000. After 19 offers, raising the price by fifty thousand US dollars each time, the dress sold for over one million euros, eleven times more than expected. Julien’s Auction, the auction house that handled the auction, says all profits will go to the New York Historical Society. According to the magazine People the record (only in terms of dresses) was previously held by a purple cloth, which was sold for six hundred thousand euros in January 2023. So what is this miracle that just raised the stakes?

Split in two, it’s a black velvet dress with stars embroidered in blue metallic thread, with a ballerina length finished off with a royal blue organza skirt. Princess Diana wore this off-the-shoulder look twice for formal outings. The first, in April 1985 in Florence, Italy, at a dinner organized by the mayor of the city. The second was to participate in a concert by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 1986. in May. The dress is by Jacques Azaguri, a Moroccan-born British designer whom Lady Di met through Anna Harvey, then a magazine editor. British Vogue.

Although this Princess Diana look is not particularly iconic or famous, journalist Elizabeth Holmes, author of HRH, Thoughts on Royal Style, explains: NPR that according to him, this dress embodies a key moment in the evolution of Princess Diana’s fashion. In fact, the wife of Prince Charles moved from a conservative and sober style to a trendier style for bolder and more confident pieces a few years into their marriage. The dress also represents Lady Dee’s love of dance and patronage of English National Ballet.

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Another piece, more popular, sold for less

Other pieces of Diana were offered at the same auction. One of these was far from unknown to the general public, but it sold for far fewer crowns, eclipsing the record for Jacques Azaguri’s dress. This is the dusty pink blouse that Lady Diana wore for her engagement portrait. Illustrated by designer Elisabeth Emmanuel, who also designed her wedding dress, the piece still sold for €358,140, ​​three times its estimate. So, twenty-six years after her death, Lady Dee continues to fascinate, and her clothes sell for dear, dearly dear.

In the video, Marion Galli-Ramuno explains: “Diana was an icon respected all over the world.”