Nearly 30 years later, Princess Diana’s ‘revenge dress’ goes up for auction
Diana wore the dress the same day a TV interview aired in which Charles acknowledged his affair.
( NewsNation ) — Princess Diana’s iconic “revenge dress” is going up for auction — nearly three decades after she made headlines wearing it.
The striking black dress , worn by Diana on the night her then-husband , King Charles III, publicly acknowledged his infidelity, is being offered by Sotheby’s with a presale estimate of $150,000 to $300,000.
The dress went on public display Friday in London as it begins an international tour ahead of its December auction in New York.
Diana wore the figure-hugging, off-the-shoulder silk dress by Greek designer Christina Stambolian to a gala at London’s Serpentine Gallery on June 29, 1994 — the same day a television interview aired in which Charles acknowledged his affair.
Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion, said Diana used fashion to express herself and reclaim control of her own story.
Images of her wearing the dress, paired with a sapphire necklace, black pumps and bright red nail polish, quickly spread around the world. The following day, The Sun famously declared: “Revenge is chic.”
The dress became one of the most recognizable looks associated with Diana, known for her fashion influence and was among the world’s most photographed women.
The “people’s princess” later acknowledged the affair during a 1995 interview, famously saying, “There were three of us in this marriage,” referring to Charles’s relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles, now Queen Camilla.
Charles and Diana divorced in 1996. The Princess of Wales was killed in a Paris car crash the following year at age 36.
The dress is being auctioned for the first time since 1997, when Diana sold it along with other clothing to raise money for AIDS charities.
Sotheby’s expects the dress could sell for significantly more than its presale estimate. In 2023, a red sweater featuring a sheep design that Diana wore to a polo match sold for $1.1 million, setting a record for an item owned by the late princess.
The “revenge dress” will remain on display in London through Sept. 24 before traveling to Hong Kong and Geneva. It will then be offered at auction in New York on Dec. 9.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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