Princess Diana’s Revenge Dress Is Going To Auction

Out of all the royals, Princess Diana remains one of the most popular by far. Known for charity work and warm public persona, she quickly became the people’s princess – and a hot topic in the press. Her fashion, naturally, also became a major talking point. Over the years, Diana set trends across bridalwear, off-duty style (sparking ‘the daily uniform’) and, most famously, revenge dressing. And now, one of Princess Diana’s most famous dresses is going to auction: the Revenge Dress.

The Story Behind Princess Diana’s Revenge Dress

When Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation to the public, it sent shockwaves across the country. The royal couple, who were often cited as a fairytale love story, had faced tensions within their marriage for years – resulting in a rather messy divorce in 1992, a year which the late Queen Elizabeth II dubbed ‘annus horribilis’.

But it wasn’t until two years later, that things ramped up in the public eye. That year, on 29 June 1994, Prince Charles sat down for Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role, a tell-all documentary in which the royal admitted to being unfaithful to Diana on live television. It was broadcast to over 13 million people.

On that same night, Diana was scheduled to go to a high-profile fundraising dinner hosted by Vanity Fair at the Serpentine Gallery. Rather than miss it, the royal fought fire with fire, emerging from her private car on the streets of Chelsea wearing a slinky little black dress. Stepping straight into a crowd of photographers, Diana walked confidently through the throng and into the venue, projecting an image of a calm, collected woman well above the scandal of her ex-husband’s affair. Forevermore, the look has been known as the Revenge Dress – or, more casually, the ‘f*** you’ dress. 

Diana chose to accessorise the LBD with classic black pointed-toe stiletto pumps (thought to be from Manolo Blahnik), a compact black clutch from Salvatore Ferragamo and a seven-strand pearl choker adorned with an antique diamond and sapphire brooch given to her as a wedding gift by the Queen Mother. The message was clear: she was telling Charles and the royal family that she would not be a victim of their scandals. And it worked, her public appearance was splashed across the front page of newspapers all over the world, stealing the spotlight from her ex-husband’s affair confession.

Netflix’s The Crown recreated the now-famous moment in its final season (c) Netflix

The dress itself might not have seen the light of day, if not for the circumstances; originally planning on wearing a more traditional Valentino gown, Diana is said to have swapped the look for the now iconic dress. Designed by Christina Stambolian, the black silk off-the-shoulder dress featured an asymmetric hemline and dramatic chiffon train – and was long considered too daring for a public outing by the late royal. It had sat in her wardrobe, unworn, for three years before that night in 1994. Her stylist at the time, Anna Harvey, revealed that Diana simply said she ‘wanted to look a million dollars’.

The pop culture moment is one of the most referenced in history, with the little black dress, or LBD, having since earned its place as the ultimate empowerment ensemble. ‘Fashion can be a language when words fail or are simply not enough. Princess Diana understood that instinctively,’ said Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s Global Head of Handbags and Fashion. ‘What makes this dress extraordinary is not merely that it was worn by the princess, nor that its appearance at the Serpentine event made headlines around the world. It is what it communicated. 

‘On her own terms, Princess Diana turned the dress into one of the most powerful messages she ever made, during one of the most scrutinised and emotionally charged episodes of her life. What became a global viral moment – long before social media made the term mundane – also gave license to anyone, but especially women, to use fashion beyond adornment and much more intentionally and meaningfully: as a shield, a weapon or both. 

‘What has endured across the decades is not the scandal surrounding that evening, but Princess Diana’s show of confidence and self-possession. She walked into a moment in which so much of her story was being told for her and, through what she chose to wear, reclaimed the narrative for herself.’

What Happened To The Dress?

The Revenge Dress stayed in Princess Diana’s wardrobe for many years after that night in 1994, but eventually, the royal chose to sell it herself at a charity auction. Taking place in 1997, just months before she died, the dress was one of 79 she volunteered for a sale at Christie’s in New York to raise money for cancer and AIDS charities.

The couple who bought the dress in that very auction are the ones selling it again today. ‘My late husband and I knew that this dress was something special,’ the consignor told Sotheby’s of that moment. ‘Princess Diana was walking into the worst night of her life and you would never know it to look at her. It went from a cocktail dress to a statement in the time it took to photograph her. Thirty years on, you can say the words anywhere in the world and everyone knows exactly which dress you mean.

‘Bidding at auction and winning it was one of the great days of our life together. With him gone, that chapter has closed, and so should this one. I hope it goes to someone who will enjoy owning it as much as we did.’

(c) Sotheby’s

Princess Diana’s Revenge Dress Goes To Auction

Princess Diana’s revenge dress will go to auction on 9 December 2026, during a live sale at Sotheby’s Breuer Building in New York as part of Sotheby’s Luxury Week. A rare copy of the original catalogue, numbered and signed by the princess and the designer of the dress (and crediting Prince William with the idea of the sale) will be sold with the dress. Just like the first time, the sale will be in aid of charity: part of the proceeds will be donated to NHS Lothian Charity on behalf of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

At the time of writing, the Revenge Dress is estimated between $150,000 and $300,000 (or £110,000 and £220,000). 

Check out the official sale page at sothebys.com

Where To See It

But if you don’t have $300,000 to spare, fear not. The Revenge Dress will be going on a whistle-stop tour of the world via Sotheby’s global showrooms, starting in London (18-24 September) before making its way to Hong Kong (1-15 October), Geneva (6-11 November) and New York (2-8 December).