Princess Diana's Iconic 'Revenge Dress' to be Auctioned in New York
6 sources across 6 countries
Who reported this
- Folha de S.Paulo
- Frankfurter Allgemeine
- South China Morning Post
- Telex
- BBC News
- CNN
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
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Princess Diana's famous revenge dress is set to be auctioned by Sotheby's in New York on December 9. The black silk evening gown, designed by Christina Stambolian, is estimated to sell for up to 300,000 US dollars. Before the sale, the dress will be exhibited in London, Hong Kong, and Geneva. This marks the first time the garment has been offered at auction since 1997, when the princess sold 79 of her dresses to raise funds for AIDS and breast cancer charities.
Diana wore the figure hugging, shoulder barring dress on June 29, 1994, for a party at the Serpentine Gallery in London. The outfit earned its nickname because she wore it the same evening that her then husband, now King Charles III, admitted to being unfaithful in a televised documentary. According to reports, Diana made a last minute decision to wear the dress, which had been in her closet for three years, after initially considering a more traditional Valentino outfit. Her stylist at the time, Anna Harvey, stated that Diana wanted to look a million dollars.
Sotheby's head of handbags and fashion, Morgane Halimi, described the dress as one of the most powerful messages Diana ever made, noting that she used fashion to reclaim her narrative during a highly scrutinized period of her life. The dress is being sold alongside a rare signed copy of the original 1997 auction catalogue. Other items from Diana's wardrobe have recently fetched high prices, including a black sheep sweater that sold for over 1.1 million US dollars in 2023.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- This outlet highlighted the dress as a symbol of female empowerment and a break from royal protocol.
- Centre
- These outlets focused on the factual details of the auction and the historical context of the dress.
- Centre-right
- These outlets emphasized the dress as a fashion statement and provided biographical details about Diana's death.
Sources
- Centre BBC News: Princess Diana's 'revenge dress' goes up for auction
- Centre-left CNN: Princess Diana’s ‘revenge dress’ is going up for auction
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: Princess Diana's revenge dress could be sold for R$ 1.6 million
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Sotheby's in New York: Lady Diana's "revenge dress" to be auctioned
- Centre-right South China Morning Post: Princess Diana’s ‘revenge dress’ up for auction for first time in decades
- Centre Telex: Princess Diana's revenge dress is being auctioned again
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.