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Thanks to the last series of The Crown, all eyes have been on the wardrobe Princess Diana wore in the final summer before her death in August 1997: the confident and uncompromising neon and leopard print Versace swimsuits for sojourns to Saint-Tropez, the charity event-ready roster of smart shift dresses by longtime favorite Catherine Walker, and the dressed-down DNA of her post-workout chinos and loafers.
But it’s the ostentation of the ’80s that drew bidders to a recent lot at Julien’s Auctions’ “Hollywood Legends” sale in Beverly Hills, where a shoulder-padded, sparkling and star-embroidered Azagury evening dress sold on Sunday for $1,148,080. Princess Diana first wore the dress in 1985 to join her then husband Prince Charles at a dinner at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and again a year later to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. The gown by the London-based, Moroccan-born designer–complete with voluminous organza skirt, drop-waist bow and hand-sewn metallic detailing–fetched the largest sum of any dress worn by the Princess to be sold at auction, selling for 11 times the original estimated value.
When it comes to Diana’s wardrobe, 2023 has been a year of six-figure sales. Back in September, a Sotheby’s auction saw the intarsia-knit black sheep jumper by British brand Warm & Wonderful–worn by a 19-year-old Diana in 1981 to watch Prince Charles play polo–sell for $1.1 million. The sweater, listed with an estimate of around $80,000, instantly became the most expensive knit sold at auction (followed by the $334,000 unwashed and cigarette-burnt khaki cardigan Kurt Cobain wore for a Nirvana MTV Unplugged concert). Back in January, Kim Kardashian also snapped up a piece from the late Princess of Wales’s wardrobe: the amethyst-twinkling Attallah Cross, made by royal jeweler Garrard in 1920. The piece sold at Sotheby’s for $197,453.