Australian collector spends nearly $3 million purchasing Princess Diana's clothing at auction

An Australian fan of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, has paid an extraordinary $772,000 for a dress worn by the royal in Sydney more than three decades ago.

Renae Plant, who founded The Princess Diana Museum, secured the Bellville Sassoon-designed floral day dress, better known as Diana's 'caring dress', at a landmark auction of items belonging to the late princess.

In total, Plant spent close to US $1.9 million (approx. $2.8 million) on 35 pieces connected to Diana at the event hosted by Julien's Auctions last week.

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Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection raised more than US $5 million (approx. $7.6 million) and was billed as the biggest ever sale of clothing and accessories worn by the late Princess of Wales.

Ahead of the auction in Beverly Hills, 9honey spoke with two of the designers who had items in the sale, Jacques Azagury and Elizabeth Emanuel.

Azagury is known for being the man behind Diana's 'famous five' dresses of the 1990s and an illustration of the black beaded black gown worn on what would be Diana's final birthday in 1997 sold for $28,000 – more than six times its estimate.

An Emanuel-designed black sequin-embellished silk taffeta evening gown tried on during a fitting by Diana, known as the 'sister dress' to strapless version she wore at her first ever public appearance, sold for $39,000.

A Lady Dior handbag, worn by Diana many times, sold for $493,000 while a Catherine Walker coatdress sold for $691,000 – 15 times higher than estimates.

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A magenta ski suit worn by Diana sold for $480,000. And a yellow floral Bruce Oldfield silk two-piece outfit, worn by Diana to Royal Ascot in 1987, was bought for $395,000.

Other items connected to the princess were quickly snapped up by buyers.

Plant, who grew up in Queensland before moving to Los Angeles, said she relied on donations to fund her new purchases and mortgaged her house for a fourth time.

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She first saw Diana in 1983 during the royal's first official tour of Australia with then-Prince Charles.

In 1988, Plant was able to shake Diana's hand after she and Charles left a service at St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney.

Diana was wearing the colourful 'caring dress', which is now in Plant's collection following the auction.

She is the founder of The Princess Diana Museum, a virtual collection of the late royal's clothing and accessories and other items connected to her short life.

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There are more than 2700 pieces in the collection amassed over more than a decade. It is considered to be one of the largest collections of Diana's personal items.

"I feel like this dress, the 'Caring Dress,' just absolutely represents her kindness, her compassion, her humanitarianism and absolutely represents everything that the Princess Diana Museum stands for and what we've been doing," Plant told People magazine after the auction.

"I was shaking," she said of the moment she secured the Bellville Sassoon dress.

"Diana was definitely looking over us today."

Plant is hoping to take her Diana collection on a travelling exhibition, beginning in November in California.

Her aim is for the items to go on show around the world, including in the UK.

"This is really preserving historical artefacts and just being able to tell Diana's story and her legacy and for future generations," she said.

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