A red sweater adorned with a flock of sheep worn by the young Princess Diana has sold at auction for $1.1 million. The price is many times its presale estimate and a record for an item owned by the late royal. The playfully patterned wool jumper was bought by an unidentified bidder at Sotheby's online Fashion Icons sale.
LONDON — A red sweater adorned with a flock of sheep and worn by the young Princess Diana has sold at auction for $1.1 million, many times its presale estimate and a record for an item owned by the late royal.
The auction house had valued it at between $50,000 and $80,000 ahead of two weeks of bidding that ended Thursday. With 15 minutes left until the sale closed, the highest offer stood at $190,000, but leapt to $1.1 million after a final flurry of bids.Victor Edelstein-designed ballgownThe sale also smashed the existing auction record for a sweater, the $334,000 paid in 2019 for Kurt Cobain's green cardigan from Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert.
A few weeks later, Muir and Osborne received an official letter from Buckingham Palace explaining that Diana had damaged the sweater and asking whether it could be repaired or replaced. The original was returned, showing damage to a sleeve the designers thought might have been caused by snagging on Diana's diamond and sapphire engagement ring.
Diana, the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, divorced Charles in 1996, She was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 at the age of 36.
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