After 31 years, the black silk gown Princess Diana wore to a 1994 party at the Serpentine Gallery is set to hit the auction block.
The dress, which became known as the "revenge dress", was a pop‑culture icon after Prince Charles publicly admitted infidelity during a BBC documentary that aired the same night.
Sotheby’s has announced that the garment will be auctioned on 9 December, with experts predicting it could fetch up to $300,000 (£220,000).
The dress first appeared at auction in 1997 as part of a charity sale; this will be its first public sale in nearly three decades.
Historically, similar items from Diana’s wardrobe have fetched record sums, such as her sweater sold for $1 million in 2023.
According to Sotheby’s, Clara Anita Anna Harvey, Diana’s stylist at the time, recalled that the princess wanted to look a million dollars as she was prepared to make a last‑minute wardrobe change for the donation dinner.
The dress was paired with a royal jewel, a black clutch and black pumps, while Diana entered the event aboard a Jaguar XJ40 that had itself recently sold at auction for £66,250.
The auction will provide an opportunity for collectors to own a piece of history that symbolised Diana’s assertion of agency during a highly emotional period of her life.
