A collection of Princess Diana's most memorable
evening gowns, including one she wore to a White House dinner where she danced
with John Travolta and another that she used during her state visit to India in
1992, fetched nearly 863,000 pounds at an auction here. The dress worn by
Princess Diana when she danced with John Travolta at a White House state dinner
was sold at an auction here for a whopping 240,000 pounds to an anonymous
bidder. The off-the-shoulder, midnight blue velvet gown, designed by Victor
Edelstein, captivated the public when the late princess was pictured wearing it
as she was twirled around the dance floor by the Hollywood star during a visit
to the US in 1985. While, a Catherine Walker Mughal-inspired embroidered pink
silk evening gown and bolero which was made for Diana's a state visit to India
in 1992 was sold for 66,000 pounds. It was on this trip that the famous
photograph of the princess sitting alone outside the Taj Mahal was taken.
The
dress she wore while dancing with Travolta was the star lot in a sale of 10 of
Diana's dresses at vintage fashion auctioneers Kerry Taylor Auctions in London.
"It was bought by a British gentleman who said he wanted to buy it as a
surprise to cheer up his wife. I hope that the sale has really made someone's
day," Auctioneer Kerry Taylor said. The collection, Fit For a Princess,
raised 862,800 pounds. Taylor described the dresses as "a little history
of Diana's life through her clothes". The dresses were originally sold,
along with a number of others, by Diana after her divorce from the Prince of
Wales to raise money for charity, at the suggestion of Prince William. American
Maureen Rorech Dunkel, from the US, initially bought the dresses as a long-term
investment, but after Diana's death in 1997 she decided to exhibit them to
raise money for good causes. Bidders came from as far as Australia and the US,
but there were British buyers for several of the dresses, including an
"important" museum which bought two gowns, something Taylor said she
was particularly pleased about. "It's important for the generations to
come," Taylor said. "Diana was the people's princess, so the people
should be able to see these dresses. This is our heritage, our history."
The second-highest prices were achieved by two gowns by Catherine Walker, one
of Diana's favourite designers, and were sold for 108,000 each. 
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