image source, Martin Keane/PA Wire
Princess Diana’s dress, known as the ‘Revenge Dress’, will be auctioned off.
The late Princess of Wales wore a black evening gown – made of silk and off the shoulder – to the ceremony in London, hours after her then-husband Prince Charles admitted to infidelity during their marriage.
Her stunning appearance at the Serpentine Gallery in 1994 wearing the dress became an iconic moment in popular culture.
Auction house Sotheby’s expects the dress to fetch 220,000 pounds ($300,000) when it goes on sale on December 9. It is the first time the dress has been offered at auction since 1997, when the princess sold 79 of her dresses – just months before her death – to raise funds for the organisation.
Morgan Hallim, global head of handbags and fashion at Sotheby’s, said in a statement that Princess Diana “instinctively understood” that fashion could be a language in itself.
He said: “Princess Diana made the dress – in her style – one of the most powerful messages she has ever sent, at a time in her life that was very much in the spotlight and emotionally charged.”
He added: “She entered a moment where a lot of her story was being told on her behalf, but she took back the reins of telling her own story through what she chose to wear.”
On the same evening as the charity dinner at the Serpentine Gallery, a documentary was broadcast in which the Prince of Wales (now the King) admitted to cheating on Princess Diana, after years of rumors and media reports.
Details of the ITV interview were leaked days before it aired, leading Diana’s first public appearance since the show to be widely interpreted as her response to the interview.
Anna Harvey, the princess’s stylist at the time, was quoted as saying that the princess “wanted to look very elegant and classy”.
Before going to the ceremony, the princess changed her clothes at the last minute. She ditched the low-key Valentino gown and instead opted for an asymmetric skirt and chiffon train gown by Greek designer Christina Stamboliani, and coordinated with a royal necklace, a small black bag and black high heels.
“Revenge Dress” will be on a world tour until sold out; It will be on display at Sotheby’s in London from September 18 to 24, then it will move to Hong Kong in early October, Geneva in early November, and then New York, where the sale will take place.
The latest auction, in which the dress was displayed, was held at the initiative of Princess Diana herself, part of dozens of items that were sold to raise donations for charities related to cancer and AIDS.
image source, Martin Keane/PA Wire
The dress was bought by Brig Mackenzie, then living in Glasgow, and her husband, Graeme, for £39,098.
She told The Independent at the time that she bought the item not to wear it – “I can’t wear it” – but because the proceeds would go to the Children First charity.
Mackenzie said in a statement released by Sotheby’s on Thursday: “My late husband and I realized that this dress had a special character.”
“Princess Diana was on the verge of the worst night of her life, but those watching her would never know it, as the dress transformed from a mere cocktail dress to a symbol that carried a powerful message in the moments she was photographed.”
“Thirty years from now, you can talk about this dress anywhere in the world and everyone will know exactly which dress you mean.”
She added that she decided to sell the dress after her husband’s death because bidding on it was “one of the most beautiful days of our life together.”
Sotheby’s said a rare copy of the auction catalog held in 1997 – a copy signed by Diana and the designer Stamboliani – will be sold, suggesting that the idea to auction the dress came at Prince William’s suggestion – along with the dress itself.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital through NHS Lothian.
The classic Jaguar XJ40 that Diana drove to the Serpentine Gallery party was reportedly sold at auction earlier this year for £66,250.
However, the dress is expected to fetch a much higher price, although this is not the first time a piece of the princess’s wardrobe has sold for a huge sum; One of Diana’s coats – which featured a print of black sheep in rows of white sheep – sold for £920,000 at a 2023 auction by Sotheby’s in New York.
