Whether dressed for an official engagement, or rocking her trademark sweatshirt and cycling shorts combination, Princess Diana always looks wonderful.
One of her most iconic outfits was her red knitted sheep jumper, which she wore to watch King Charles play polo in 1981. However, the garment, which made headlines the world over, was reportedly damaged after she wore it.
The makers of the jumper, which is expected to fetch up to £70,000 at auction at Sotheby's in September, shared its chequered history, explaining that it had been lost for decades before they rediscovered it in March this year in their attic, tucked away in a small box beside a cotton bedspread.
© GettyThe knitwear came to be back in their possession after it became damaged following Diana's first time wearing it.
A few weeks after its first appearance, the designers of the jumper, Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne of Warm and Wonderful, received an official letter from Buckingham Palace requesting either a repair or a replacement for the sweater as it had been damaged.
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The original was returned to them, and they knitted a new sweater for the late princess, but the whereabouts of the original remained in their attic for many decades.
Sotheby’s is now offering the original sweater as part of its inaugural Fashion Icons sale which will run during New York Fashion week from August 31 to September 13.
© GettyOther recreations of the knit have been created in the intermediate years. Though Warm and Wonderful stopped producing the black sheep style in 1994, it was reissued in 2020 as a collaboration with the brand Rowing Blazer.
The actress Emma Corrin wore a replica of the sweater when she played Diana in the fourth season of Netflix’s The Crown in 2020, plus, a replica of the same design is part of the permanent collection of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
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This isn't the first time part of Diana's wardrobe has made it to auction. Sotheby's also sold an aubergine ball gown once belonging to the Princess, which fetched $604,800 dollars (around £474,870) in January 2023.
The auction house also sold Diana’s Attallah Cross to Kim Kardashian in the Royal and Noble auction in London in January 2023 for £163,800.
We're looking forward to seeing how much the jumper fetches! Watch the video below to discover the other unexpected item from Diana's archive that was sold at auction...
