Iconic Diana dress to be auctioned

An iconic dress which catapulted Diana, Princess of Wales on to the world stage when she wore it a few weeks after becoming engaged is to be auctioned, it was announced today.

Images of the royal bride-to-be stepping out of a limousine in a black gown with a plunging neckline made newspaper headlines and immediately established Diana as the most glamorous member of the royal family.

The 19-year-old, then Lady Diana Spencer, wore it at a black-tie benefit event at Goldsmiths’ Hall in the City in March 1981 – her first official engagement with her fiance the Prince of Wales.

The revealing dress was created by former couple Elizabeth and David Emanuel, who would later design Diana’s wedding dress.

Elizabeth Emanuel, writing in her book about the bridal gown, described how the infamous black dress began life as a sample that had been loaned out to the actress Liza Goddard.

Speaking about Diana she added: “The transformation was incredible. She arrived looking like the nursery school teacher she was, but now she looked like a movie star.

“We gave her the dress made a little shawl to go with it so she could cover up on the night and away she went.

“We hadn’t considered the fact that when Diana bent over – as she would have to do when getting out of the car – she would show quite a lot of cleavage. We just thought she looked fabulous.”

As the royal wedding approached. the princess returned the gown to the designers to have it altered as she had lost weight, but it was easier to make another and the original remained forgotten for many years.

The dress, expected to fetch up to £50,000 (€56,600), is the star lot in a number of items being sold from Elizabeth and David Emanuel’s archive of Diana items.

It will go under the hammer in June at sales rooms run by specialist vintage fashion auctioneers Kerry Taylor Auctions.

The Emanuel blouse which the princess chose for a Vogue magazine fashion shoot in the early 1980s is also up for sale with an estimated price of £10,000-15,000 (€11,000-€17,000).

The pink chiffon top was Diana’s introduction to the designers and an image of her wearing it was taken by Lord Snowdon.

A large part of the Emanuel archive being sold focuses on the Royal wedding gown and includes original designs and toiles for the bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses, and the layered tulle petticoat worn by the princess for fittings and rehearsals at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Other items include a duplicate sequinned veil, invoices, letters from Lady Diana’s mother, correspondence with Buckingham Palace and a photographic record of the making of the bridal gown.

The collection ends with fashion designs for Princess Diana’s official tours to Venice 1984 and the Middle East in 1986.

The auction will be held on June 8 at La Galleria in Pall Mall, central London.