Princess Diana’s ‘caring dress’ fetches over US$500,000 in largest auction of late royal’s fashion

Princess Diana pictured during a tour of the Gulf in 1989. Some of her most recognizable pieces are going to auction in June. David Levenson/Shutterstock via CNN Newsource

A floral dress that Diana, Princess of Wales, wore to visit children in hospitals sold for US$520,000 on Thursday, as over 100 of the former Princess of Wales’ possessions went up for auction in California.

Sported in public on several occasions between 1988 and 1992, including during an official visits to Spain and Nigeria, the gown was referred to by Diana as her “caring dress,” because its bright colours helped put sick patients at ease.

Titled “Princess Diana’s Style & A Royal Collection,” the multimillion-dollar sale at The Peninsula Beverly Hills featured a range of the late princess’s wardrobe items, including hats, handbags and shoes, as well as sketches and handwritten letters. Auction house Julien’s Auctions described the items as the “largest collection” of the royal’s fashion ever to go under the hammer.

The “caring dress,” which was designed by high-end British salon Bellville Sassoon, was one of 10 lots to fetch six-figure sums. Among the others were a coat dress and cream silk evening gown, both designed by Catherine Walker, that each sold for $455,000.

Elsewhere, a lambskin Dior handbag given to Diana by former French first lady, Bernadette Chirac, went for $325,000, while a blue sleeveless shift dress by her close friend Gianni Versace fetched $227,500. A yellow floral Bruce Oldfield two-piece and three-piece Escada power suit both sold for $260,000.

Prior to the sale, fashion designer Elizabeth Emanuel, who went on to co-create Diana’s wedding gown, said in an press release that she had offered up archival items so they could be “loved and appreciated once again by those who will never forget those golden days when Diana was our Queen of Hearts.” One of Emanuel’s designs — a black taffeta evening gown that Diana wore to an event in London during her first official appearance since the announcement of her engagement to then-Prince Charles in 1981 — sold for $26,000.

While many of items were worn on formal occasions, others demonstrated Diana’s quintessential take on casual ‘80s and ‘90s style, including a scarlet nylon ski suit and an oversized sweatshirt bearing the logo of the British Lung Foundation (which both smashed estimates to sold for $325,000 and $221,000, respectively).

Diana’s fashion has frequently commanded large sums at auction — even during her lifetime. In 1997, she put almost 80 dresses up for sale via Christie’s, raising over $3.2 million for cancer and AIDS research. The current auction record for a one of her outfits was set at Julien’s Auctions in 2023, when the black-and-blue Jacques Azagury gown she wore to at least two public engagements in the mid-1980s sold for $1.14 million.

As well as private viewings in New York, London and Los Angeles, a selection of Diana’s wardrobe items from Thursday’s sale were exhibited at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Ireland, ahead of the auction.

The auction also included items belonging to members of the Royal Family, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother, with some of the pieces dating from the 19th century. A portion of the auction’s proceeds will go to the British charity Muscular Dystrophy U.K., the auction house said.

“Princess Diana’s legacy lives on not only through her humanitarian work but also in the timeless elegance of her style, which continues to inspire the world,” said Julien’s Auctions’ co-founder and executive director, Martin Nolan, in a press release ahead of the sale.

By Oscar Holland, CNN