Five dresses worn by Princess Diana sell for $500,000 at LA auction

Her wardrobe was the envy of millions of women across the globe.

And it seems the appetite for Princess Diana's glamorous dresses has not subsided.

Five dresses designed for and worn by the late British royal have gone under the hammer in Los Angeles for a total of nearly half a million dollars.


For bidders on a lower budget, letters, crockery and a pair of cuff-links commemorating Diana and Prince Charles's wedding were also up for auction.

Three of the gowns were made by British dressmaker Catherine Walker, Diana's personal couturier and close friend for 16 years.

A cream lace dress designed by Zandra Rhodes and worn by Diana in 1987 to the Birthright Benefit at the London Palladium was also up for grabs.

And the surprise of the night came from a Caroline Charles burgundy wool coat dress, which was expected to go for $20-40,000 but scored a total of $125,000.

The collection was originally sold in Paris in 1997 - a month before Diana's death in the French capital at the age of 36.



Now, 20 years later, the anonymous winners decided to hand the lucrative gowns to Julien's Auctions.

The Zandra Rhodes evening gown created for Diana, which was estimated to sell for $80-100,000, went for $100,000.

The Catherine Walker dresses all fetched within or just above their estimated price of between $60,000 and $80,000.

An off-the-shoulder petal pink gown embellished with bands of simulated pearls, faceted glass and beadwork, worn by Diana in 1993 to the Savoy Theatre in London, went for $75,000.

Also on offer was a strapless ivory silk crepe dress which went for $76,800, while a chartreuse silk georgette gown worn by Diana in 1993 fetched $81,250.


Ms Walker, who died in 2012 after a long battle with cancer, worked tirelessly to create over 1,000 outfits for Diana; from right after her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles, to until her death in 1997.

According to a friend of Miss Walker, journalist Alison Jane Reid - who wrote an in-depth story about her for MailOnline in 2010 - the Princess and the designer were close, and their relationship founded on 'loyalty and total discretion.'

Reid wrote: 'After Diana’s separation from Prince Charles in 1992, clothes became even more important to her.

'Together, the two women devised a joint strategy of ‘defiant’ frocks - body-conscious but without vulgarity - that Diana wore in separation and divorce.'

Four other items which belonged to the late princess also went under the hammer in Beverly Hills.


A handwritten letter from Diana, using her Kensington Palace stationary and dated June 1997, reads: 'The inspiration for this wonderful sale comes from just one person... our son William'.

In keeping with the royal theme at the Julien's auction, a slice of cake from the 2011 royal wedding of Diana's son Prince William, and the daughter-in-law she never met, Kate Middleton, was estimated to fetch between $1,000 and $2,000.

And also under the hammer was a blank invitation to the same wedding, printed on Queen Elizabeth II's Buckingham Palace stationary.

'The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by The Queen to invite __ to the Marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales, K.G. with Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29th April at 11.00 a.m.,' it reads. 'Dress: Uniform, Morning Coat or Lounge Suit.'