Items owned by Princess Diana and other royals fetches £4 million at auction

Princess Diana’s items auction

An auction led by items from the collection of Diana, Princess of Wales has sold for more than £4 million at auction.

The sale featured more than 200 items from members of the royal family, but was billed as the most extensive collection of Diana’s personal belongings since she held her own charity auction in 1997 – two months before her death.

A pair of gowns which both featured in her New York auction almost three decades ago, were the bidders’ favourite.

A magenta silk and lace off-the-shoulder evening dress designed by Victor Edelstein, which Diana wore in London and Germany in 1987, topped the sale at 910,000 dollars (£720,000) – four-and-a-half times its original lower estimate.

British creator Edelstein also designed the famous navy blue dress Diana wore when she danced with John Travolta at the White House in 1985.

Meanwhile, a Murray Arbeid midnight blue strapless gown that Diana wore twice in 1986 — to the Phantom Of The Opera premiere and to a dinner with King Constantine of Greece — and to a Royal Opera House performance of Cinderella in 1987 also topped its estimate.

The gown sold for 780,000 dollars (£617,000), almost four times its lower estimate.

Diana’s favourite designers including Edelstein, Caroline Charles, and Catherine Walker all featured in the auction titled Princess Diana’s Elegance & A Royal Collection, which was held at The Peninsula Beverly Hills in Los Angeles.

A pink floral silk shirt dress designed by Walker, which Diana wore to Prince William’s sports day at Richmond Stadium in 1988 as well as leaving Prince Harry’s school in Notting Hill in 1992, sold for 444,500 dollars (£352,000).

A portion of the auction proceeds from this gown will benefit Muscular Dystrophy UK, alongside other specified lots.

The auction also featured more than 20 handwritten letters, notes, and holiday cards from Diana.

Many of the letters were written to Maud Pendrey, a former housekeeper at the Spencer family home at the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire, where Diana grew up.

A three-page handwritten letter to Mrs Pendrey in 1984, written when Diana was pregnant with Harry, sold for nearly 15 times its estimate at 44,450 dollars (£35,000).

While a two-page handwritten letter to Mr and Mrs Pendrey from Diana in 1985, which featured reference photos of William and Harry which Diana signed “This comes with much love from the four of us” – sold for 28,575 dollars (£23,000).

“The phenomenal results of today’s historic auction held just a few days before Princess Diana’s birthday demonstrates why Diana is and always will remain one of the world’s most beloved and inspiring cultural figures,” Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions, said.

“These exquisite garments, shoes and accessories made not only fashion statements but also displayed her warmth and humanity that made Diana the most popular and greatest Royal style icon of all time.”

The sale comes after a Jacques Azagury-designed dress worn by Diana in Italy in 1985 set a new world record for the most expensive dress worn by the royal at auction, selling for more than one million dollars in December.

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