More than 200 pieces from the late Princess Diana’s wardrobe will go to auction this year.
Julien’s Auctions will host the auction Princess Diana’s Style & A Royal Collection on June 2 at Peninsula Beverly Hills. Proceeds will go to Muscular Dystrophy UK.
“Princess Diana holds a special place in the heart of Julien’s Auctions, and we are honoured to continue to preserve her legacy telling her story through the pieces that defined her elegance, grace, glamour and spirit,” Julien’s Auctions co-founder and executive director Martin Nolan said.
Along with clothing and artefacts worn by the late princess, pieces from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother, and historic royal pieces will also go under the hammer.
Diana’s legacy
“Her fashion choices were deliberate. Political. Sometimes rebellious. And always emotionally resonant. She used clothing to express joy, signal strength, demand attention, and — on more than one occasion — rewrite the royal rulebook,” a release from the auction house said.
One standout piece that’s up for sale is her Belville Sassoon floral dress, which she frequently wore when she visited children and hospitals. Nicknamed the ‘caring dress’, it’s recognised for its bright patterns.
“She decided not to wear the large matching hat that was designed to accompany it, as she said you couldn’t cuddle a child in a hat,” curator Matthew Storey said in 2021 about the dress, when the designer’s sketches were displayed in Kensington Palace.
“She would also sometimes wear chunky jewellery when she knew that she was going to meet children, as they would enjoy playing with it.”
No other details have been released about what other garments and pieces will be for sale, but bids begin next month.
Frocks selling for the big bucks
This is not the first time the auction house has sold Diana’s clothes and accessories.
Seven items, which included shoes, a bag, a two-piece set and dresses, have been sold through Julien’s Auctions for more than $3 million.
Other pieces that belonged to the late princess have also been snapped up for record prices.
Her black and blue Jacques Azagury dress, which she donned in Florence in 1985 and Vancouver a year later, was bought for $1,148,080 in 2023 – more than 11 times its original asking price.
Earlier that year, it was reported that Kim Kardashian dropped a cool $285,000 on Diana’s ‘Attalah Cross’ necklace at auction. Private letters exchanged between Diana and her former husband, the now King Charles, also sold for $170,000.
That June, her iconic sheep jumper was found over 40 years after it went missing, and was sold for $2.14 AUD million.
Months later, three of Princess Diana’s most iconic gowns, designed by Bruce Oldfield and Catherine Walker – were also sold for a whopping $2.5 AUD million at a Beverley Hills auction.
