Kerry Taylor, owner of the auction house that is staging a sale of some of Princess Diana's most iconic dresses, has spoken to HELLO! Online about the significance of this historic collection. "Since the auction was announced yesterday, I've had interest from all over the world," said Kerry, in an exclusive interview. Kerry is overseeing the sale of ten beautiful dresses, but she describes the experience as "bittersweet".
"When I unpack the dresses, it is tinged with sadness because Diana is no longer with us," she told HELLO! Online. "I am mindful of that. Diana was such a wonderful person, a fantastic humanitarian and a great mother, as well as being a style icon." The collection, which will go up for auction on 19 March, includes the silk velvet Victor Edelstein gown that Diana famously wore to dance with John Travolta at a 1985 state dinner at the White House. The off-the-shoulder dress is valued at up to £300,000. There is also a Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown, estimated to be worth up to £50,000, which Diana wore to a gala opening of the Les Miserables musical.Shortly before her death, Diana sold 79 of her couture dresses, death, to raise money for her favourite charities. She credited her son Prince William with inspiring her to sell them.Florida-based socialite Maureen Dunken bought 13 of these dresses, but a bankruptcy court has ordered her to sell ten of them after she ran into financial difficulty.
The ten dresses are now being sold by Kerry Taylor Auctions, who are based in based in Bermondsey, south London. It is rare for such a collection to come up for sale. "For someone who wants to acquire one of Diana's dresses, now is a really good time to try to get one," said Kerry. "Very few of these Diana dresses are in public collections in the UK, so it would be really nice if museums could get at least some of them."
