An auction featuring more than 200 items will be the “largest Princess Diana auction ever”, its director said.
The Princess Diana’s Style and a Royal Collection sale is to take place at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, on June 26 and is to include clothing worn by the late Princess Diana.
Items include a silk floral printed day dress designed by Bellville Sassoon, estimated to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000 (€175,000 to €265,000), and an embroidered evening gown, designed by Catherine Walker, with the same estimated selling price.
Martin Nolan, of Julien’s Auctions, said: “This is the largest Princess Diana auction ever. Diana herself did an auction in 1997 to raise money for charity, sadly two months before we tragically lost Diana.
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“So now we have over 100 items representing her amazing life and her career, and of course, she’s the mum of the future king of England, Prince William, so we have really iconic outfits.
“Diana was a style icon, she knew what to wear, when to wear it, what was appropriate, she knew how to send a message by what she was wearing.
“She knew how to dress when she went on a royal visit to Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates, and when she was going to a hospital, she knew to wear bright colours that sick children would feel that she was likeable, huggable, approachable, and she brought hope wherever she went.”
Up for auction will be a collection of clothes and artefacts from British royal history, including items that belonged to the Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother and other members of the royal family. Some auction items date from the 19th century.
Mr Nolan said the market for items relating to Diana had increased thanks to Netflix series The Crown.
“The Crown certainly has introduced Diana to a whole new younger generation, and they relate to her and they love her, and they love her style, they love her innocence, they love her sense of fun,” he said.
Elizabeth Emanuel, who designed clothing for Diana, including her wedding dress, said: “When Diana first came to us for all of these dresses, she didn’t have a lot of ideas of her own, because fashion wasn’t her number one subject
“She didn’t really take much of an interest in it, and we were very lucky to have been involved with her at the beginning, when she was developing her own style.
“And then over the years, you could see her being more and more confident in what she was wearing and knowing her own style, so we were very lucky to have been there in the formative years.”
Julien’s Auctions held a sale of Diana’s items last year, billed as the most extensive collection of Diana’s personal belongings since 1997.
The auction house previously sold one of Diana’s gowns for $1.14 million and a pair of her shoes for $390,000.
The live auction is due to take place at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, California.
A portion of the money raised at the sale of the Diana items is to benefit Muscular Dystrophy UK.
