Her KINGDOM For a Shoe!

A childhood encounter with Princess Diana made Renae Plant a lifelong fan. Now she has spent a fortune collecting the late royal's belongings-and she's sharing them with the world.

- ELIZABETH HOLMES

When the hammer came down at $125,000, closing the sale of a pair of Princess Diana’s violet Ferragamo heels, Renae Plant leaped in the air and then fell to the floor. The 53-year-old Australian lay face up on the black and gold carpet of the Peninsula Beverly Hills for a few moments, fluttering her knees triumphantly.

Plant’s presence stood in stark contrast to her fellow bidders at the Julien’s Auctions sale last summer, most of whom remained anonymous at the other ends of phones or computer screens. The faceless, nameless collectors drove the prices for the late royal’s clothing and accessories far above the low-ball estimates. In the room, however, Plant celebrated each purchase. Clad in a bright pink minidress, she stood at a high-top cocktail table with an iPhone in one hand and a paddle in the other. “Yes, yes, yes!” she exclaimed when the hammer awarded her a two-tone Rayne leather clutch for $63,500 with fees. When she won a buttery yellow Philip Somerville turban for $57,150, she gave a swift bump to the table with a closed fist.

But it was Diana’s size 39½ purple pumps that thrilled her most. The princess had worn them on a visit to Sydney in 1988 during which Plant, then a teenager, stood on a milk crate to catch a glimpse. “I’m screaming—I’m not shy at all—'Lady Di! Lady Di!’” Plant recalls. The princess smiled and shook her hand. “The piercing eyes when she’s looking at you...” Plant says. “It was mesmerizing.”

Now the owner and director of a preschool in Los Angeles, Plant has turned her brief connection with Diana into one of the largest collections of the late princess’s artifacts in the world. She has amassed more than 2,700 pieces over the last decade, ranging from Diana’s baby shoes to a plunging beaded Versace column gown. Her holdings are available for viewing in the virtual Princess Diana Museum, with plans for a physical display in the works.