Dress Worn by Diana Sells for a Staggering Sum

A ballerina-length evening dress described as "sweet and sophisticated" and worn at least twice by Princess Diana in the mid-1980s has sold for more than any other dress she'd worn. Julien's Auctions had estimated the black velvet dress with blue stars—complete with shoulder pads, a blue organza skirt, and a big bow and designed by Moroccan-British fashion designer Jacques Azagury—would sell for between $100,000 and $200,000. The winning bid Sunday night ended up being $1.143 million. The Guardian reports the buyer's identity hasn't been disclosed.

Diana wore the dress in Florence, Italy, in 1985 at a dinner held by the city's mayor while on an official royal tour of Italy with Prince Charles. She donned it a second time while attending the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra the following year. The BBC reports the sale price is shoulders above the previous record set at auction in January, when a 1991 velvet gown by Victor Edelstein sold for $604,800. The black and blue dress wasn't the only Diana-related item to sell for far more than expected in this auction. The blouse she wore for her 1981 engagement portrait sold for $381,000, well above its $80,000 estimate. (Her sheep sweater sold for a stunning amount as well.)