Marilyn's Royal Blog: What happened to Princess Diana's Pink Silk Mughal dress by Catherine Walker

Friday, May 15, 2020

What happened to Princess Diana's Pink Silk Mughal dress by Catherine Walker

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As mentioned in a previous post, Diana elevated diplomatic dressing to an art form. This dress is another excellent example. It was designed by Catherine Walker a favoured couturier who dressed Diana from 1982 until her death in 1997.

Lot #19 in the Christie's auction, it is described in the catalogue as 'A long Evening Dress of Pink Wild Silk, with an embroidered red bolero'.

It is further described:

The strapless bodice is embroidered overall with pink and white flowers, some couched, with green sequins, star-shaped sequins, gold glass beads and gold braid, echoing Mughal embroidery motifs. The long sleeved bolero jacket, has a bodice embroidered overall en suite with the dress. The cuffs each have three, fine buttons of pink and green paste. The dress was made for the Princess' India tour in 1992.

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Inspiration for the embroidery came from the lid of an Indian inlaid marquetry box found in a London market. The thread and needlework were chosen to reflect the country she was visiting and the embroidery was completed by S. Lock Ltd.

The 1992 India visit was Charles and Diana's second to last tour together before they separated in December of the same year. It led to some memorable images: the photo of Diana alone at the Taj Mahal, and another of her turning her head as Charles tried to kiss her. She wore several fantastic outfits in India but considering the amount of beautiful and intricate detail in this dress, I can't locate a single photo of Diana wearing it during the tour. The only photo of Diana in the dress was taken for the 1997 auction catalogue by Lord Snowdon.

It was bought by Maureen Dunkle Rorech, for $61,900. She purchased 14 gowns, including the Travolta dress but this one was her personal favourite. It went around the world in the Dresses for Humanity tour. I originally saw the exhibit in 1998 when it came to Toronto, but the dresses toured various locations, including Disney World, Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show, and the Flying Monkey movie house in New Hampshire. However, the tour ran into trouble with creditors and in 2010, this dress was confiscated for five months until the debt was paid.

This dress, along with 9 others originally purchased by Ms. Rorech, was auctioned in 2013 by Kerry Taylor Auctions. It was bought for £66,000 ($82,000 USD) by William Doyle, CEO of Newbridge Silverware Museum in Kildaire, Ireland. It is currently on display in their Museum of Style Icons exhibit.