LONDON – Princess Diana’s black silk strapless “revenge dress,” which she wore to a 1994 fundraising dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in London on the same night her estranged husband, Prince Charles, revealed his marital infidelities on national television, is going under the hammer for the first time since her death in 1997.
The dress, by the Greek designer Christina Stambolian, will hit the auction block on Dec. 9 in New York during Sotheby’s luxury week with an estimate of $150,000–$300,000. Prior to the sale, it will go on tour, starting with London on Sept. 18. It will travel to Hong Kong and Geneva before landing in New York.
The princess first sold the dress herself in June 1997, a few months before she was killed in a car accident in Paris. It was one of 79 dresses that the royal sold at auction to raise funds to benefit cancer and AIDS charities.
A rare copy of the original catalogue, numbered and signed by the princess and Stambolian, and crediting the young Prince William with the idea of the sale, will be included in the lot. Part of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to NHS Lothian Charity on behalf of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
The dress has been held in a private collection since 1997, and the consignor, who remains anonymous, said it transcends fashion and celebrity.
