Princess Diana’s Iconic Midnight Blue Dress Is On Sale For Dhs 1.3 Million
Prince Charles commented on ‘how wonderful’ she looked
The dress Princess Diana famously wore when she danced with John Travolta at the White House State Dinner is on sale for Dhs1.3 million.
The late princess stunned the world when she took to the dancefloor wearing the Victor Edelstein velvet evening gown with Hollywood star Travolta on 9th November 1985.
Kerry Taylor Auctions
In an interview with chat show host Andrew Denton, John Travolta described how Nancy Reagan took him aside and whispered that Princess Diana had only one wish on this American trip – and that it was to dance with him! At midnight, with a little prompting from the First Lady, he crossed the floor. Travolta recalled: “She turned around and she did that look that she did so, so beautifully and I asked if she would care to dance and she said she’d love to and we danced for twenty minutes to a medley of Grease and Saturday Night Fever…I was on cloud nine. She has great rhythm. We did spins and turns. We did a kind of modern fox-trot and she followed me very well.”
Diana wore the gown on at least three more major occasions: in Vienna on the state visit to Austria in 1986, in Bonn on a state visit to Germany in 1987 and to the Royal Opera House in 1991, when she met Vivienne Westwood.She also wore the beloved dress for her official portrait by Lord Snowden in 1997.
Kerry Taylor Auctions
Victor Edelstein made dresses for Princess Diana over an eleven-year period. She would often pop into his shop at 3-4 Stanhope Mews and look through the collections whilst her security guard waited outside. The Princess saw this model in his studio in burgundy and requested it be made for her in midnight blue. The fittings for the gown took place in her private apartments at Kensington Palace. At the last fitting, Princess Diana was so delighted with the final result that she rushed to show it to Prince Charles. Mr Edelstein recalls that the Prince, told the Princess that she looked wonderful in the gown.
The dress is set to go up for auction on 9th December in London.