AS HER FAMOUS CLOTHES GO UP FOR AUCTION DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES WHY HER STATUS AS A STYLE ICON IS STRONGER THAN EVER

More than a quarter of a century after her death, the global fascination with Diana, Princess of Wales, still endures.

- TRACY SCHAVERIEN

Netflix drama The Crown has brought back her unforgettable sense of style for a new generation to enjoy, an award-winning producer is making a new documentary about her life and four of her most famous outfits are expected to sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds at auction next week.

Among three dresses being sold in Beverly Hills on 8 September is a custom-made red sequinned Bruce Oldfield gown, which is expected to fetch up to $400,000 (around £315,000).

The floor-length silk and metallic jacquard chiffon dress, which Diana wore a number of times, including to the 1991 world premiere of Hot Shots in London’s Leicester Square and to an event at Claridge’s hotel in 1989, features a fitted ruched bodice and an open skirt that “floats delicately to the floor”, according to the catalogue by Julien’s Auctions.

UNIQUE GOWNS 

A green and black Catherine Walker creation with an asymmetric waistline that the then Princess of Wales wore to a gala dinner in Toronto in 1991, will go under the hammer for an estimated $100,000 to $200,000, while an ivory and black silk crepe and velvet strapless gown, also by Catherine – one of Diana’s favourite designers – has a price tag of $60,000 to $80,000. Announcing the Legends: Hollywood & Royalty sale, which takes place both live and online, auction house founder Darren Julien called Diana “the beloved people’s princess, one of the most photographed women in the world, who changed the monarchy forever and whose persona continues to captivate the public and Hollywood today”.