Dress Worn By Princess Diana Sells For Record $1.1 Million At Auction

A blue and black Jacques Azagury dress worn by Princess Diana has sold at auction for more than $1 million. Princess Diana first wore the ballerina-length evening dress in Florence in 1985. She was also a photographer wearing it a year later on a visit to Vancouver, the Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions said.

The evening dress has sold for $1.1 million, 11 times its estimate, breaking the record price for one of her gowns going under the hammer, Reuters said. 

The auction house said the dress, along with a matching illustration, sold for $1,148,080, after listing it with an estimate of $100,000-$200,000. 

"Julien's now holds the new world record for the most expensive dress worn by Princess Diana sold at auction," it said in a statement, adding that the previous auction record was $604,800.

The auction house said that the dress was "synonymous with the Princess of Wales's royal elegance and eternal grace." 

#PrincessDiana dress breaks records in yesterday's #Hollywood auction presented by Julien's and @tcm @People got wind of yesterday's record.https://t.co/6roI0EpYNU

— Julien's Auctions (@JuliensAuctions) December 18, 2023

"The fact that this dress, all these years later, goes for this amount - I think people continue to be in awe of her and her fashion," Elizabeth Holmes, a fashion critic and expert in the royal family's style, told New York Times on Monday. "Diana has remained a fashion icon."

The dress is made of a long black velvet bodice embroidered with blue stars and a two-tier blue organza skirt adorned with a sash and bow. 

It was sold as part of the four-day "Hollywood Legends" sale by Julien's Auctions and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), which featured a range of memorabilia.

A pink chiffon blouse which Diana wore for her 1981 engagement portrait to then Prince Charles by Lord Snowdon sold for $381,000.

The blouse, by David and Elizabeth Emanuel who went on to design Diana's wedding dress, had an estimate of $80,000 - $100,000.