Dress worn by Diana fetches record amount at auction

A DRESS worn by Princess Diana has become the most expensive item of her clothing to be sold as it fetched 11 times the asking price at an auction.

The ballerina-length evening dress was designed by Moroccan-British fashion designer Jacques Azagury. It was worn by the late Princess in Florence in 1985 and Vancouver in 1986 and was sold for a record-breaking $1,148,080 (£904,262).

Julien’s Auctions, which sold the gown, had listed it with an estimate of $100,000 to $200,000. The price was almost double the $604,800 fetched by the sale of Princess Diana’s 1991 velvet gown by Victor Edelstein in January.

Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions said that the buyer was a private individual who planned to exhibit the dress in the future.

“We had quite a lot of interest in the dress but ultimately it came down to two people who wanted it, certainly at those record-breaking prices,” Martin Nolan said, adding, “There were a lot of people online, on the phones and even live, so great interest, as expected.”

They had kept Kensington Palace informed about the sale in case the Royal family wanted to “reacquire” anything, he said, explaining, “What’s interesting about this dress as well is that Diana sold it herself in June of 1997 when William encouraged her to sell dresses. It raised money for charity then, and here we go again – it’s going to a worthwhile charitable organization with the New York Historical Society. And so Diana, her legacy, is with us, she continues to do well 26 years since we lost her.”