This isn’t the only purple-themed Diana auction going on at the famed auction house this month.Inside Princess Diana's last portrait session. Diana was photographed at Christies during her 1997 dress auction.

Interestingly, the last time the piece sold, it was actually put on auction by the late royal herself.Īccording to Sotheby’s, the gown was included with 79 others in Diana’s 1997 auction to benefit two charities, the AIDS Crisis Trust and the Royal Marsden Hospital Cancer Fund, and fetched $24,150 at the time (about $44,800 in today’s dollars).

“This particular dress, the deep purple velvet with twisted bodice, feels particularly modern and ahead of its time.” “Victor was an integral part of Diana’s transformation from young school teacher to sex symbol,” she added. The princess wore the dress again for a 1997 Vanity Fair photoshoot with Mario Testino shortly before her death. “It’s become harder and harder for independent collectors to get pieces of Diana’s wardrobe, so this is a fabulous find,” the royal commentator said. Kinsey Schofield, founder of, told Page Six Style that the auction is “a rare opportunity” for royal fashion fans. The Royal Marsden Cancer Fundĭiana later wore the dress for her last formal photoshoot before her 1997 death, with the purple frock featured in a photo by Mario Testino that was included in a Vanity Fair spread about her post-divorce life. Princess Diana served as president of the Royal Marsden Hospital, where this painting now hangs. The gown is a strapless Victor Edelstein creation that was part of the designer’s autumn 1989 collection and features a sweetheart neckline and gathered, twisted detail at the bust along with a full, tulip-style skirt.Įdelstein’s design was immortalized in two 1991 portraits: a photograph by Princess Margaret’s ex-husband, Lord Snowdon, and another a painting by British artist Douglas Hardinge Anderson, which hangs at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

The purple velvet dress Princess Diana sported in two 1991 portraits and during a 1997 Vanity Fair photoshoot will hit the Sotheby’s auction block on January 27 in New York - and the “rare” dress is estimated to be worth between $80,000 and $120,000. Royal fashion fans can dress like a princess … for the right price. Elizabeth Taylor’s ‘lucky charm’ 1961 Oscars dress found, up for auction

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