Princess Diana’s iconic ‘revenge dress’ could fetch $300,000 at auction

By Dean Murray

Princess Diana's iconic "revenge dress" could fetch $300,000 at auction.

The iconic Christina Stambolian dress will be sold this December during Sotheby's Luxury Week with an estimate of $150,000–$300,000.

The dress will be offered at auction for the first time since June 1997, when the late princess sold 79 of her dresses at auction to raise funds to benefit cancer and AIDS charities.

A rare copy of the original catalog, numbered and signed by the princess and the designer of the dress, crediting Prince William with the idea of the sale will be sold with the dress. Part of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to NHS Lothian Charity on behalf of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

On June 29, 1994, Diana wore the garment to a fundraising dinner at the Serpentine gallery hosted by Vanity Fair.

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That same evening, the then Prince Charles, from whom she had been separated for nearly two years, was due to admit on national television that he had been unfaithful to her.

Sotheby's said: "The revelations had been leaked a few days before so Princess Diana knew that whatever she chose to do that evening, as the program was aired to millions, would inevitably carry meaning and be interpreted as a response."

They added: "Yet the significance of the 'Revenge Dress' extends far beyond the circumstances that first brought it to worldwide attention. Over the decades, it has come to symbolize something more universal: the power to define one's own image, project confidence and assert a sense of self in the face of adversity."

Morgane Halimi, Sotheby's global head of handbags and fashion, said: "Fashion can be a language when words fail or are simply not enough. Princess Diana understood that instinctively. What makes this dress extraordinary is not merely that it was worn by the princess, nor that its appearance at the Serpentine event made headlines around the world. It is what it communicated.

"On her own terms, Princess Diana turned the dress into one of the most powerful messages she ever made, during one of the most scrutinized and emotionally charged episodes of her life."

The "Revenge Dress" will embark on a global exhibition tour, making its first public appearance at Sotheby's London from Sept. 18, during London Fashion Week.

The dress will then go to Hong Kong and Geneva, before travelling to New York for the auction on December 9.