Diana’s ‘Revenge Dress’ Displayed Before Sotheby’s Auction

Sotheby's unveiled Princess Diana's black silk Christina Stambolian 'revenge dress' in London on September 18, 2026. She wore it on June 29, 1994, at a Serpentine Gallery gala the same night then-Prince Charles admitted infidelity on national television. The dress, which Diana sold in 1997 to fund AIDS charities, carries a $150,000–$300,000 presale estimate for auction on December 9 in New York; the Evening Standard reports upwards of £220,000. It remains on view in London until September 24 before touring Hong Kong and Geneva. Morgane Halimi of Sotheby's said Diana chose the dress at a moment she 'could have seemed fragile' in order 'to express to the world that she was taking back the narrative,' sending the message 'I'm here, and I stand for myself.' She said the dress shows fashion as communication. Diana later said 'there were three of us in this marriage'; the couple divorced in 1996, and she died in Paris in 1997 at 36. A 1981 polo dress of hers fetched $1.1 million in 2023. Contested: Earl Spencer's book, serialised in the Daily Mail, renews dispute with Buckingham Palace; he claims Charles said days after her death, 'rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough.' Final sale price and buyer are unresolved.