Due to an avalanche of bids, the auction house extended the auction by a few minutes
New York, United States:
An iconic red sweater worn by Princess Diana shortly after her engagement to then-Prince Charles, featuring rows of fluffy sheep, sold at auction for more than $1.1 million after a frenetic period of final bidding, Sotheby’s announced Thursday.
The 19-year-old wore the knitted garment – which included a black sheep among dozens of otherwise white, woolly creatures – to a polo match in June 1981 during her whirlwind days as a shy queen in the making.
The playfully patterned ‘Black Sheep’ sweater became one of the most emblematic pieces worn by Diana, which in retrospect seems to foreshadow her difficult journey as a member of the British Royal Family.
The garment was sold for $1.1 million (including fees and commission) after a fierce battle between internet bidders.
The total was more than ten times more than Sotheby’s initial estimate of between $50,000 and $80,000.
Due to an avalanche of bids, the auction house extended the sale by several minutes, with the price rising from $190,000 to $1.1 million in the final 15 minutes.
According to Sotheby’s, this is the highest price ever paid at auction for a piece of Princess Diana’s clothing – surpassing her Infanta-style ball gown that sold for $604,000 in January – and also the most valuable sweater ever sold at auction .
The sweater was created by then little-known designers Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne and their knitting company Warm and Wonderful, which subsequently became famous.
Weeks after Diana was photographed in the top, the designers received a letter explaining that one of the sweater’s sleeves was damaged and asking if it could be repaired or replaced.
The designers sent her a new one and assumed the original had been repaired and sent to a customer, but in March 2023, Osborne found the sweater in a small box in her attic.
In addition to the sweater, the auction also included the letter requesting repairs, as well as a thank you note from Diana’s private secretary, Oliver Everett.
The sweater was so iconic that it even appeared (via replica) in the fourth season of the Netflix drama “The Crown,” which chronicles the recent history of the House of Windsor.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
