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Sotheby’s estimates a single black silk dress at $150,000 to $300,000, more than thirty years after a princess wore it once and never wore it in public again. The gown carries a name recognized far beyond fashion circles: the revenge dress. On December 9, it returns to auction for the first time since 1997, the same year Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash weeks after selling it.
A Rival Designer’s Mistake Forced a Last-Minute Switch
Diana planned to wear Valentino to a dinner at London’s Serpentine Gallery on June 29, 1994. Valentino’s team leaked details of her outfit to the press before she arrived, and a furious Diana abandoned the gown entirely. She reached instead for a black silk dress by Greek designer Christina Stambolian, one she had owned for three years but never worn in public.
Hours Earlier, Her Husband Confessed to an Affair on National TV
That same evening, Diana’s then-husband, now King Charles III, admitted in a televised interview that he had been unfaithful, in a documentary that aired to 13 million viewers nationwide. Diana arrived at the Serpentine Gallery just hours later, stepping out of a Jaguar XJ40 in front of a wall of photographers whose cameras were already trained on her.
A Neckline and Hemline That Broke Royal Rules
The off-the-shoulder gown ended above the knee, a cut royal women rarely wore in public. Black itself carried weight at the time, a color tied more to royal mourning than evening glamour. Diana paired the dress with a pearl and sapphire choker, a Salvatore Ferragamo clutch, and Manolo Blahnik heels, finishing the look with scarlet nail polish against the black silk.
Her Stylist Said She “Wanted to Look a Million Dollars”
According to Anna Harvey, her stylist at the time, Diana “wanted to look a million dollars” walking into that room. Fashion historian Justine Picardie later called it the most powerful thing Diana ever wore, crediting the moment with cementing “revenge dressing” into the vocabulary used today whenever a public figure dresses defiantly after heartbreak or betrayal.
She Sold the Dress Two Months Before Her Death
Diana kept the gown for three years after that single appearance. In June 1997, she auctioned it along with 79 other dresses from her wardrobe, raising money for cancer and AIDS charities. Two months later, she died in a car crash in Paris. The revenge dress passed into private hands and stayed out of public view for nearly thirty years.
The Anonymous Buyers Kept It as a Shared Memory
The dress was bought in 1997 by a couple who were never publicly named. The current owner, now widowed, told Sotheby’s that winning the bid was “one of the great days of our life together.” With her husband gone, she said, “that chapter has closed, and so should this one,” explaining her decision to part with the gown after nearly three decades.
The Getaway Car Already Sold for $88,000
The Jaguar XJ40 Sovereign, finished in green with a beige leather interior and just over 45,000 miles on it, sold earlier this year for £66,250, about $88,386, far above its estimated value. Its listing described the car simply as the personal limousine of one of the most photographed women in the world.
London Fashion Week Gets the Dress Before New York Does
The gown goes on public display at Sotheby’s in London from September 18 to 24, then travels to Hong Kong and Geneva ahead of the December sale. The exhibition arrives the same month Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, publishes a new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, reigniting public interest in his sister’s story just as the dress returns to view.
A Dress That Could Outsell Its Own Estimate
Diana’s wardrobe has outperformed expectations before. A velvet gown by Victor Edelstein sold for $604,800 against a far lower estimate, and her black sheep sweater brought more than $1 million at auction in 2023. Sotheby’s $150,000 to $300,000 estimate for the revenge dress may prove conservative once bidding opens in New York on December 9, with part of the proceeds supporting NHS Lothian Charity and the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.