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Dress Princess Diana wore for Travolta dance sells for more than $280,000
LONDON — A sweeping gown Princess Diana wore when she danced with John Travolta at the White House has been bought for more than $280,000 by the charity that looks after her former palace.
The bodiced, off-the-shoulder, midnight blue dress by couturier Victor Edelstein, was put up for sale by London's Kerry Taylor Auctions on Monday, with an estimated price tag of £250,000-£300,000 ($320,750 - $384,900).
It failed to reach those figures during live bidding, but the charity moved in afterwards.
"It was sold post-auction ... for a hammer price of £220,000. The seller was delighted as he hoped it would stay in the UK," the auction house said in a statement.
The charity Historic Royal Palaces—which looks after Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London as well as the public parts of Diana's former home, Kensington Palace—said on Wednesday it had bought a piece of history.
"Not only is the ‘Travolta’ dress a fantastic example of couture tailoring designed to dazzle on a state occasion, it represents a key moment in the story of twentieth century royal fashion," Eleri Lynn, curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said in a statement.
"We’re delighted to have acquired this iconic evening gown for the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection—a designated collection of national and international importance—over twenty years since it first left Kensington Palace," she added.
Diana wore the dress in 1985 at a White House state dinner, where she danced with the "Grease" actor.
Auctioneer Kerry Taylor said the gown had previously been bought in 2013 for £200,000 "by a romantic gentleman who wanted basically to cheer up his wife."
"But since then it’s spent most of its time locked away in a wardrobe and now as a couple they feel they really want this to go out into the public domain.” — Reuters
