Inside the record auction that proves that Princess Diana’s power still sells (exclusive)

The lasting magic of Princess Diana – Whose dresses and accessories continue to retrieve millions at auctions around the world – are focusing on two designers who knew the late royal well.

Speaks on an exclusive preview of London of the coming Princess Diana’s style & a royal collection Auction, which takes place June 26 in Los Angeles, Elizabeth Emanuel – who designed Lady Diana Spencer’s iconic wedding dress With the then husband David-Säger to people, “I don’t know if it’s wrong to say this, but in some people’s minds she is like a saint. They want to touch her, they want something that was part of her. She was such a beautiful person, such a brilliant soul-they don’t want to let her go.”

When she reflects on Diana’s unmatched heritage, she adds, “I can’t think of anyone else like this would apply, who was like her and remembered by so many people.”

Jacques Azagury, the designer behind the velvet evening dress embroidered with stars – like put in a disc When it was sold at an auction for $ 1.1 million in December 2023 – echoes the feeling: “Diana was a phenomenon. It will be a long time before we see someone like her again. She was really global. Everywhere you went in the world and you mentioned Princess Diana, they would know who she was.

While giving a tour of some of the objects, Azagury tells, “This was not a story that happened in the 1800s, but something that happened in our own time. It was the whole drama of a soap opera and glamor of Hollywood – that was all that was rolled into one. And it has not stopped today.”

He closed his store a year and a half ago, but says the fascination has not faded. “People, even recently, would come in and ask,” how was she? “They were still interested, says Azagury. I would tell them how delightful she was and how accessible she was – and how she made you feel calm immediately.”

Sales, scheduled for June 26 on the Beverly Hills peninsula in Los Angeles, have more than 300 historical pieces in the largest auction ever of objects that once belonged to the late Princess of Wales. Among taxes are letters And iconic accessories, including her famous “Lady Dior” bag.

Emanuel has several pieces in the collection and stands next to a black dress, estimated between $ 20,000 and $ 40,000, which Diana tried but never bore formally. The dress is designed from the same fabric used to create the fantastic evening dress that Diana wore during a visit to Goldsmith’s Hall in London, just weeks before her wedding from 1981. A photograph that caught her that went out of the car, illuminated by photographers’ lightning lamps, revealed a glamorous new side of the soon Princess.

Emanuel also has sketches of the wedding dress, fabric samples from the original creation and a sketch of a spare wedding dress she designed as backup – revealed last year in people.

“It was a wrench to release them, but I’d rather see them and appreciate them and see the change in style. From a historical point of view, they are interesting to me.”

She points out, “The good for me and David is that we have our memories – to be with her. We met her and were so honored, and it was such an amazing experience to be a part of her life during the few years. After knowing her it was fantastic.”

Speaking of the recently infinite black dress, Emanuel says: “It has been taken care of so well and it is in unspoilt condition, even if it is almost 45 years old. Someone may want it, or it can go to a museum.”

She adds, “It’s part of the Emanuel history, and it’s very important.”

During the exclusive preview of sales in London, Azagury shares a sketch of a fantastic evening dress, along with a piece of the original fabric he gifted to Princess Diana for her 36th birthday – which tragically turned out to be her last. She carried the dress on July night to Centenary Celebration of the Tate Gallery and died less than two months later.

“It was the last time she was seen publicly at an event, which is why it was so gripping for me,” he says. By that time he had already started working on another dress for her – one she never had the chance to wear.

A second sketch shown shows a sky blue dress Azagury designed for Diana just a month earlier, in June 1997. She loved it so much that he later created a black version for her. Of that design, he says, “It was more glamorous and in more detail. You can see the fabric – Chantilly lace, and hundreds of thousands of small sequins and pearls. As always the form was very, very simple – just as I liked to see her. I always put her in very simple shapes and really concentrated on the fit and finish.”

Martin Nolan, co -founder and CEO of Julian’s auctionsSays it was “fantastic to bring these homes again to show them in London – especially here – overlooking Buckingham Palace,” he adds and speaks from the Peninsula Hotel.

Standing next to a colorful day dress by Bellville Sassoon – a Diana loved so much that she carried it publicly nine times – Nolan thinks it will be a “highlight of the auction.”

“She wore the dress regularly for the children to relate to it,” says Nolan. “It was simple, easily accessible and colorful.”

Designer David Sassoon, the British talent behind the appearance, recently died. “She was brilliant when she shines a spotlight on British designers,” Nolan notes.

He also feels a resuscitation in interest around Diana in recent years – possibly run by series such as The crown. “We sold Jacques Azagury’s dress for a record amount. It was extraordinary,” he says.

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Her heritage, he adds, just continues to grow. “Her life public was so short, and yet she achieved so much. She is the mother of the future king. Marilyn Monroe also died at 36 years, and your memory of her is of a blond bomb shell. The same for Diana – she will never aged.”

“This is works of art that will continue to intrigue 2125!” He adds. “It’s remarkable.”

Princess Diana’s style & a royal collection Starts Thursday 26 June at 10:00 PT on the Beverly Hills peninsula.