Princess Diana’s 1985 Dress Breaks New Record at Auction

Princess Diana’s 1985 Dress Sets New Record, Sells At Over $1 Million

The Princess Diana 1985 Dress

A Princess Diana 1985 dress has sold for $1,148,000 at a Julien’s Auction, setting a new record for the most expensive dress the Duchess of Wales ever sold. The dress also sold for 11 times the original estimated price of $100,000.

Diana originally wore the dress in Florence, Italy, on April 23, 1985, while she was on tour with Prince Charles, and it was featured in the 1981 issue of Vogue. She also wore it in May 1986 to a performance by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theater.

The previous most expensive dress Diana wore was by designer Victoria Edelstein for $604,800 and was sold earlier this year.

Designed by Moroccan-British designer Jacques Azagury, the iconic ballerina-length evening dress had padded shoulder pads and a black velvet bodice with embroidered stars. The bottom half of the dress had a two-tier royal blue organza skirt with a sash and bow.

Speaking to People magazine in November about his time working with the late royal, The dress’ designer, Azagury, said:

“She was the only person I was really excited to meet, time after time,” Azagury, who designed for Diana for 12 years up until her death in a Paris car crash in 1997, told the outlet. “Every moment was so exciting to me, and we had so much fun. I never got any of the troubled Diana. Whenever we were together, it was just joyous.”