A romantic ballerina-length evening dress that Princess Diana initially wore in 1985 during an official royal tour of Italy with then-Prince Charles now holds the record as the most expensive dress ever sold at an auction belonging to the Princess of Wales.
LOOK: Princess Diana's Dress Breaks Record at Auction, Selling for Over P64 Million
The dress, designed by Moroccan-British fashion designer Jacques Azagury, fetched an astonishing $1.148 million (about P64 million) in a recent Julien's Auction, surpassing its original estimate of $100,000 by 11 times.
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The dress has padded shoulder pads, a black velvet bodice with embroidered stars in metallic thread from Jakob Schlaepher fabric, and a two-tier royal blue organza skirt with a sash and bow. The ballerina skirt pays homage to Diana's passion for dance and her role as a patron of The English National Ballet.
Diana was later photographed also in this dress when she attended a performance by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, Canada, in May 1986. Princess Diana and Prince Charles were on a royal visit to Vancouver to officially open the Expo '86 World's Fair.
The princess discovered Jacques Azagury's designs when she went with Anna Harvey, then the British Vogue fashion editor, to the London Design Trade Show, showcasing emerging designers. Azagury was in awe meeting the princess, who came to his store in Knightsbridge three weeks later to purchase the dress she had seen at the show. Diana wore many dresses and gowns by Azagury, including a light blue silk georgette mini-dress that she wore on June 3, 1997, to the Royal Albert Hall for a performance of Swan Lake.
Meanwhile, a blush pink crepe silk chiffon blouse with ruff-like collar and loose pleats to the front, worn by Lady Diana in her iconic 1981 engagement portrait was sold for $381,000, nearly four times its original estimate of $80,000. The blouse was created by designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who would famously later designed Princess Diana's wedding gown.
The engagement of Prince Charles and Lady Diana was announced shortly after the photo shoot. Emanuel sold this blouse from her collection in 2010 and was showcased at Kensington Palace in London as part of the exhibition "Diana: Her Fashion Story" from February 24, 2017, to February 17, 2019.
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