Soon after that, Diana died in a car trash while trying to avoid the paparazzi in Paris, France.ĭiana wore the silk velvet gown on several occasions throughout the '90s. Funds from the auction, which included about 80 of her dresses, went to AIDS and cancer organizations. That summer, she sold the dress at a Christie’s charity auction for nearly $25,000. In 1997, Diana wore the gown for a Vanity Fair photoshoot by Mario Testino, which accompanied a story about her life after her divorce from Prince Charles. The piece currently hangs at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital, where the princess once served as president. That same year, the British portraitist Douglas Hardinge Anderson created a painting of Diana wearing the gown, complete with a background showing trees under a cloudy blue sky. The Princess of Wales wore the aubergine velvet dress for her official royal portrait, shot by Lord Snowden in 1991. “… Today, he’s credited with helping Diana transition from girly 1980s looks to a more mature, sleek aesthetic.” “The British designer eventually became one of the key shapers of her wardrobe,” writes Vogue’s Elise Taylor. Victor Edelstein made the iconic dress in 1989. His design sketches included a tiara, “perhaps suggesting he specifically had Diana in mind for this dress,” writes Sotheby’s on its website.Įdelstein began working with Diana in the early ’80s, and he would design gowns for her for over a decade. Victor Edelstein, a London-based designer and society dressmaker, made the dress in 1989 as part of his autumn collection.

The late princess wore the deep purple dress on several notable occasions, including her last formal photoshoot, which took place shortly before her death in 1997. For the first time in 25 years, Princess Diana’s silk velvet ball gown is going up for auction.

Diana mario testino