Midnight Blue Gown Highlights Biggest Sale of Princess Diana’s Belongings Since 1997
3 min
The largest auction of Princess Diana’s belongings in 27 years, including clothes and accessories, will be held this summer in Los Angeles.
Julien’s Auctions will hold a sale of Princess Diana’s most important garments and accessories, both in Los Angeles and online, on June 27.
The collection, titled “Princess Diana’s Elegance & a Royal Collection,” will be the largest to go to auction since the Princess of Wales sold 79 of her dresses at Christie’s in 1997, just two months before her death, according to a news release from Julien’s Auctions, which is holding the sale on June 27. The previous sale brought in US$3.25 million for charity.
“Julien’s is honoured to present this historic auction that will celebrate Princess Diana’s iconic fashion style and her reign as the People’s Princess,” said Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions, in a news release.
The Julien’s auction will include some of the princess’s most famous cocktail and evening dresses, suits, shoes, hats, and accessories.
Hong Kong Red Cross
Among the highlights is a Murray Arbeid midnight blue strapless tulle diamante star gown that the princess wore twice in 1986, to the premiere of Phantom of the Opera and to a dinner at Claridge’s in London for King Constantine of Greece. The gown is estimated to sell for between US$200,000 and US$400,000.
Another highly anticipated piece is an off-the-shoulder magenta silk and lace evening dress, designed by Victor Edelstein, that’s also estimated between US$200,000 and US$400,000. Diana wore the dress in London and in Hamburg, Germany, in 1987. Edelstein also designed one of Diana’s most famous looks—the ink-blue velvet, mermaid-style gown she wore while dancing with John Travolta at the White House.
Other garments that will be offered in the auction include a pink floral shirtdress (estimate: US$100,000-US$200,000), a Victorian revival evening gown with a fitted bodice and a Basque waist (estimate: US$100,000-US$200,000) and a two-piece yellow and navy skirt suit (estimate: US$30,000-US$50,000), all designed by Catherine Walker, one of Princess Diana’s closest collaborators.
Julien’s Auctions
Many of Diana’s accessories, such as shoes, handbags, and hats, will also be sold. Some notable items include a pair of Kurt Geiger emerald green satin-jewelled vamp evening shoes (estimate: US$2,000-US$4,000) and a yellow and black felted wool turban-style hat, designed by Royal milliner Philip Somerville (estimate: US$10,000-US$20,000).
A portion of the auction proceeds will benefit Muscular Dystrophy U.K. Additionally, highlights of the collection will be on view at K11 MUSEA in Hong Kong from April 18-29 and at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Ireland, from June 11-27.
“We are also delighted to bring back many of Diana’s favorite fashion ensembles to Asia and Europe that she wore on some of her highly publicised international royal appearances and humanitarian efforts, such as her Catherine Walker suit from her 1989 visit to Hong Kong,” Nolan said.
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The recent budget has forced a reckoning for property investors.
Negative gearing now restricted to new residential builds, the CGT discount gone and on paper, the numbers look different.
And many investors are responding by pivoting toward yield, prioritising cash flow over capital growth in a way that property strategists say misses the point entirely.
“The debate has shifted to yield versus growth as if they are opposing forces,” says Abdullah Nouh, founder of Melbourne-based buyers’ agency Mecca Property Group. “But that framing is itself the mistake.”
Nouh, who works with high-net-worth families and investors on long-term acquisition strategy, argues that capital growth remains the primary driver of genuine wealth creation and that the post-budget environment has made quality assets more important, not less.
The numbers make his case plainly. An additional $500 per week in rental income is welcome. A prestige asset appreciating by $1 million over a market cycle is transformative.
These are not equivalent outcomes, and portfolios built around yield at the expense of location and land value tend to generate income while wealth stands largely still.
The more nuanced shift Nouh is seeing among sophisticated investors is a move toward assets where both outcomes can be engineered simultaneously – established homes on substantial land in quality locations, where the existing dwelling can be repositioned, rental returns improved, and the underlying land value compounds independent of what sits on it.
For investors with existing equity, commercial property is also entering the conversation in a more serious way.
Prestige industrial assets, medical centres and long-leased essential retail offer income profiles that residential property in most capital city markets cannot currently match: longer lease terms, tenants covering outgoings, and greater predictability than the residential tenancy cycle.
“The investors who build lasting wealth are rarely the ones who chased yield or growth exclusively,” says Nouh.
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