Princess Diana's 'revenge dress,' worn the night Charles confessed to affair, heads to auction after 29 years

The so-called "revenge dress" worn by the late Princess Diana is heading to auction — 29 years after it last went under the hammer.

The dress is the one Diana wore on the night her estranged husband, Prince Charles — now King Charles III — publicly admitted to an extramarital affair in a television broadcast.

The revenge dress will go up for sale at Sotheby's in New York on Dec. 9, The New York Times and the Financial Times reported Thursday.

The auction house estimates the dress will fetch between $150,000 and $300,000.

However, given the enduring love and attention Diana commands, it could sell for considerably more.

Diana wore the dress on June 29, 1994.

That evening, she arrived at a Vanity Fair dinner held at the Serpentine Gallery in London wearing a short, off-the-shoulder cocktail dress that immediately drew the eye.

She accessorized with a pearl and sapphire choker and carried a Salvatore Ferragamo clutch.

Her appearance instantly captured the attention of the press and the public — the British royal family typically adheres to conservative dress standards, making the look all the more striking.

Particularly notable was the timing: Prince Charles, from whom Diana was separated, had confessed to the affair in a TV documentary broadcast just before the dinner.

Diana used fashion as a form of communication, and the bold choice that evening was widely interpreted in that light. She had reportedly known in advance that Charles would make his confession in the broadcast.

The dress was designed in 1991 by Greek fashion designer Christina Stambolian. Diana had owned it for three years but never wore it before that night.

About two months before her death in a car crash, Diana auctioned off 79 of her dresses in June 1997, raising $3.25 million for cancer and AIDS charities.

The revenge dress was among those lots. A Scottish couple, Bridget and Graham McKenzie, bought it for $64,000. Bridget kept it in her personal collection for 29 years before consigning it to the upcoming auction.

In 2023, a pink blouse Diana wore in her official engagement portrait appeared at auction.

The photo of Diana in the blouse was published in Vogue in February 1981, alongside the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles.

The blouse had previously been on display in 2019 at an exhibition on Diana's fashion held at Kensington Palace.

An evening gown Diana wore during a visit to Florence, Italy, in April 1985 has also come up for auction in the past.

Diana, who devoted herself to humanitarian and charitable causes, is still remembered by many as the "People's Princess" and the "English Rose."

She died in a car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, at the age of 36.