A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

Princess Diana’s Second Most Famous Dress Is Up for Grabs

The iconic garment is expected to fetch a hefty sum.

Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

By Pia BelloSep 10, 2026

Princess Diana’s most famous outfit, aside from her wedding dress, will be up for grabs for the first time in almost 30 years.

On December 9, Sotheby’s will auction the famous “revenge dress” in New York City. The dress is expected to sell for between $150,000 and $300,000 USD.

The black silk Christina Stambolian design earned its moniker when the beloved princess wore it the same evening in 1994 that her husband, King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, publicly acknowledged his infidelity.

Princess Diana, 1985 — Princess Diana attending a dinner at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., in 1985. Her famous "revenge dress," which she wore almost a decade later, is up for grabs this year.
Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

Before the sale, during Sotheby’s Luxury Week, the garment will tour multiple cities, offering admirers without a spare $150,000+ a chance to see the famous little black dress.

Its first public showing is scheduled at Sotheby’s London from September 18 to 24. It will then be displayed in Hong Kong from October 1 to 15 and Geneva from November 6 to 11 before arriving in New York in December.

Diana previously sold the dress in 1997 as part of a charity auction of 79 dresses that raised money for cancer and AIDS organizations. At the time, the “revenge dress” sold for $64,000 USD (approximately $133,000 adjusted for inflation), according to the New York Times.

gettyimages-76214597-594x594_dgmnp6 — She wore the dress on the same evening that then-Prince Charles first publicly acknowledged his infidelity.
Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

Diana first wore the figure-hugging black dress on June 29, 1994, to attend a Vanity Fair fundraising dinner at London’s Serpentine Gallery.

According to Vogue, Diana had owned the dress for three years but initially considered it “too daring” for a public appearance. She originally planned to wear a different outfit to the Vanity Fair party, but her stylist Anna Harvey later said Diana “wanted to look like a million dollars.”

Diana wore the off-the-shoulder dress with black heels, sheer black tights, a black clutch, and red nails. She accessorized with pearl earrings and a pearl choker featuring a diamond-and-sapphire brooch that Queen Elizabeth II had given Diana for her 1981 wedding to Charles.

Earlier that day, Charles appeared in a televised interview with journalist Jonathan Dimbleby. When asked if he had tried to be faithful to his wife, he said, “Yes... Until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried.”

200212-teeman-diana-tease_rhlnov — Princess Diana's "revenge dress" is estimated to be worth between $150,000 and $300,000. She had initially planned to wear a different outfit, but her stylist said she "wanted to look like a million dollars."
Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

In 1993, a leaked phone recording exposed intimate conversations between the prince and his ex-girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles.

Charles and Diana finalized their divorce on August 28, 1996, one year before Diana died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, at 36.

The adored royal was survived by her and Charles’s two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Charles later married Camilla, now Queen Camilla, on April 9, 2005.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend day four of Royal Ascot 2026 at Ascot Racecourse on June 19, 2026, in Ascot, England. The couple married in 2005.
Karwai Tang/WireImage

Diana’s jaw-dropping ensemble quickly became known as the “revenge dress” and has remained one of Diana’s most recognizable fashion moments.

In 2022, Netflix’s historical drama The Crown recreated it on screen, with actress Elizabeth Debicki wearing a near-identical garment, hairstyle, and accessories.