Diana Princess of Wales and Prince Charles Christmas card 1982

It’s early 2025 and Diana, Princess of Wales is in the news again. 

An apology to her younger son, Prince Harry, from the owners of the Sun newspaper included this paragraph:

“NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years.”

As a Royal, a mother, and a woman in her own right, Diana has and always will fascinate us. Click the image to own this card. 

 

Diana has never been off our pages and screens since she first, rather shyly, stepped into the spotlight as Prince Charles’s (now King Charles III) fiancee in September 1980, hiding her face with her hands as she walked to a very humble Volkswagen Golf. 

That attention never ended. 

It almost certainly contributed to her death in August 1997. 

And the nature of that event, in a car crash in Paris, fueled a whole new cycle of theory and speculation about her. 

She was an extraordinary figure, almost certainly the most popular British Royal of the modern age with the possible exception of Queen Elizabeth II. Around 2.5 billion people watched her funeral. 

And because she married into the Royal Family rather than being born into it, there is more opportunity for collectors to celebrate their connection to her with memorabilia from her life. 

Here are the most valuable items from the life of Diana Princess of Wales, who would have been 63 Years, 6 Months old in January 2025, 27 years after her death, aged just 36. 

 

Pink blouse by Elizabeth and David Emanuel

Princess Diana Pink blouse by Elizabeth and David Emanuel

The Emanuels created Diana's wedding dress, perhaps the most famous of the 20th century. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions.  

 

Sold for $381,000 in December 2023 

Diana’s wedding dress designers did a lot of work for her. 

This blouse was worn for Lord Snowden’s engagement portrait photo session. 

Diana, who was only 19, picked the item herself. 

 

Navy blue silk velvet cocktail dress by Catherine Walker 

Princess Diana Navy blue silk velvet cocktail dress by Catherine Walker 

Catherine Walker, one of Diana's favourite designers, mixed English and French style. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions. 

 

Sold for $381,000 in June 2024

Catherine Walker was designing as the Chelsea Design Company when Diana started wearing her work. 

Diana worked with Walker on tailored pieces after her first son, William, was born. 

 

Emerald green satin evening pumps by Kurt Geiger 

Princess Diana Emerald green satin evening pumps by Kurt Geiger 

These shoes and bright, opulent, and sophisticated, perfect for a Princess. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions. 

 

Sold for $390,000 in June 2024

Geiger came to London from Austria and immediately found a clientele who loved his ultra-glam footwear. 

Diana wore a 39 1/2 according to these lovely emerald slippers, complete with jewelled bows. 

They were worn in 1993 by Diana. 

 

Pink floral dress by Catherine Walker 

Princess Diana Pink floral dress by Catherine Walker 

Another Walker, this one much more day-to-day and no doubt inspiring many a British mum to find something similar. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions.  

 

Sold for $444,500 in June 2024 

This is the "sports day" dress worn in 1988 as young Prince William took part in an early school event in 1988. 

Catherine Walker was born in France and worked with another generation of royals after Diana died. She died in 2010. 

 

Black and Ivory dress by Catherine Walker 

Princess Diana Black and Ivory dress by Catherine Walker 

Diana was tall and slim, a great model for dress designers, who could give her their most elegant work. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions. 

 

Sold for $508,000 in September 2023 

Catherine Walker designed for Diana from the early 1980s until the Princess's death in 1997. 

Diana sold this gown herself in the famous 1997 Christie’s auction that raised more than $3.6 million for AIDS Crisis Trust and the Royal Marsden Hospital. 

 

Red dress by Bruce Oldfield 

Princess Diana Red dress by Bruce Oldfield 

Bruce Oldfield designed Queen Camilla's Coronation Gown in 2023. He was brought up largely in foster care and children's homes. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions.  

 

Sold for $571,500 in September 2023

Bruce Oldfield was something of a celebrity himself back in the 1980s. 

He made a number of pieces for Diana that she wore for some of her best-known public appearances. 

This one, in metallic, red chiffon, was worn for the 1991 premiere of the movie Hot Shots! 

Also sold by Diana in 1997, when it made just $34,500. 

 

Black and jade dress by Catherine Walker 

Princess Diana Black and jade dress by Catherine Walker 

Diana's beautiful looks on the royal couple's 1991 tour to Canada masked an unhappy time as the relationship came to its end. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions.  

 

Sold for $571,500 in September 2023 

This super-dramatic gown by Walker was worn in Toronto on October 26, 1991. 

Diana looked wonderful, appearing with her whole family. 

But this was the last such trip they would make, and Diana and Charles separated in 1992. 

 

Purple dress by Victor Edelstein 

Princess Diana Purple dress by Victor Edelstein 

Victor Edelstein also designed the "Travolta dress" that is just outside this list with a $362,000 sale in 2013. It would undoubtedly make more today. 

 

Sold for $604,800 in January 2023 

Another portrait gown, this purple number was in an official picture from 1991, and then in a famous 1997 shoot by Mario Testino. 

Victor Edelstein was another favourite of Diana’s designers and created the dress she wore to dance with John Travolta at the White House in 1985. 

 

Midnight blue strapless gown by Murray Arbeid 

Princess Diana Midnight blue strapless gown by Murray Arbeid 

Murray Arbeid's designs were also worn by Shirley Bassey and Queen Noor Of Jordan. He was born in the East End and evacuated in World War II. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions.  

 

Sold for $780,000 in June 2024 

Worn fairly regularly in 1986 and 1987, this Murray Arbeid gown was obviously beloved of its owner. 

 

Magenta, silk and lace dress by Victor Edelstein 

Princess Diana Magenta, silk and lace dress by Victor Edelstein 

Edelstein also did work for theatre and ballet, and he certainly has an eye for drama. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions. 

Sold for $910,000 in June 2024

You can see values shooting up even further for this 2024 sale of another Edelstein. 

This one was worn in Germany and in London in 1987 and is a real show-stopper even by Diana’s standards. 

 

The Swan Lake Suite by Garrard

Princess Diana The Swan Lake Suite by Garrard

This set of jewels has had many owners, and it may yet be put on public display. Image courtesy Guernsey's Auctions. 

 

Sold for $1 million probably in 1999 

Dodi Fayed, at the time her partner, probably intended to give Diana this sparkling set of jewellery that was made by royal jewelers Garrard and worn by Diana to a performance of Swan Lake in 1997. 

Tragedy intervened before the transaction could be completed and Garrard sold them to a Surrey businessman. 

A number of subsequent sales and proposed auctions leave the highest publicly reported price at $1 million, though they went into their last abandoned auction sale with a $15-million estimate in 2023. 

Diana didn’t own much jewellery herself, much of what she wore and was pictured in was the property of the crown. 

 

The Black Sheep sweater by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne

Princess Diana The Black Sheep sweater by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne

Atypical for this evening-wear focused list, Diana's early sweater gave her a fun, approachable look. Image courtesy Sotheby's. 

 

Sold for $1.1 million in October 2023

A typically comfy and cosy in this glamorous list, the Warm & Wonderful label jumper from 1979, announced Diana as someone with a quirky, original style when she was snapped in it dutifully supporting a Charles polo appearance in 1981. 

There are two Diana-worn examples. She tore the first, sent it back, and was given a replacement. 

The original is the one that was sold in 2023 - then a record for a Diana item, probably still a record for a sweater. 

 

Blue dress by Jacques Azagury 

Princess Diana Blue dress by Jacques Azagury 

Azagury was born in Morocco. Helen Mirren, who has played the Queen on screen, also loves his work. Image courtesy Julien's Auctions. 

 

Sold for $1.15 million in December 2023 

Diana loved Azagury’s dresses and wore many of them multiple times. 

This one is very typical of her style and made a mockery of its $100,000 estimate at auction. 

Buying Diana memorabilia today 

Diana will always be of interest to collectors. 

She’s in the exalted realm of the one-name celebrity. 

There are undoubtedly many more gowns, papers, jewels, photographs and more in personal and private collections that have yet to come to market. 

There’s also plenty of scope for collectors to celebrate her life at one remove via a huge world of media coverage and memorabilia of varying quality and rarity. 

We hold some Diana items in our collections. You can see them - and buy them - here. 

If you’d like more information like this and the latest news from the collecting world - including our latest arrivals - then just sign up for our newsletter here. You’ll never miss out again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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