Princess Diana's 'Fairy Tale' Dress Goes Up For Auction
Another dress belonging to the late Princess Diana was sold at an auction house in London.
The white organza dress with gold sequins is designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, the same pair who designed her wedding dress when she married Prince Charles in 1981. It features removable sleeves and a matching headband to make the dress as versatile as the princess herself.
According to Kerry Taylor of Kerry Taylor Auction House in London, the dress was a 'real favorite' of the Princess of Wales, as evidenced by the number of times she was photographed wearing the said dress, from the visit of Richard von Weizsaker, the then-President of the Federal Republic of Germany to the premiere of the James Bond film The Living Daylights.
'It's the kind of dress that a little girl sitting down at school will draw when she's asked to draw a princess,' says Taylor to CNN.
Designer Elizabeth Emanuel also has fond memories over the dress, remembering how she and her ex-husband David were excited when Princess Diana chose the dress for her to wear at the James Bond movie premiere.
'I remember the Princess was worried that the original frilled cap sleeves might get crushed when she took her seat in the cinema and so we removed them. As usual the Princess was right,' says Elizabeth to Hello! Magazine.
'She looked even more stunning because the dress was less fussy and now the fitted bodice emphasized her beautiful shoulders and her tiny waist.'
The dress was sold Tuesday afternoon at £102,000 (roughly AU$ 185,000) including auction premium, exceeding the expected bid price of £20,000 (roughly AU$ 36,000). The auction house reveals that it was sold to a museum overseas.
The auction house is known for selling historically important royal garments, including a nightshirt belonging to King Charles I and Kate Middleton's see-through dress she wore during a charity fashion show in her university days. It has also sold a few of Princess Diana's dresses, including the dress she wore in her visit to the White House.