Midnight Blue Gown Highlights Biggest Sale of Princess Diana’s Belongings Since 1997
By CASEY FARMER
Fri, Apr 12, 2024 9:38am
3 min
3 min
The largest auction of Princess Diana’s belongings in 27 years, including clothes and accessories, will be held this summer in Los Angeles.
Julien’s Auctions will hold a sale of Princess Diana’s most important garments and accessories, both in Los Angeles and online, on June 27.
The collection, titled “Princess Diana’s Elegance & a Royal Collection,” will be the largest to go to auction since the Princess of Wales sold 79 of her dresses at Christie’s in 1997, just two months before her death, according to a news release from Julien’s Auctions, which is holding the sale on June 27. The previous sale brought in US$3.25 million for charity.
“Julien’s is honored to present this historic auction that will celebrate Princess Diana’s iconic fashion style and her reign as the People’s Princess,” said Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions, in a news release.
The Julien’s auction will include some of the princess’s most famous cocktail and evening dresses, suits, shoes, hats, and accessories.
Hong Kong Red Cross
Among the highlights is a Murray Arbeid midnight blue strapless tulle diamante star gown that the princess wore twice in 1986, to the premiere of Phantom of the Opera and to a dinner at Claridge’s in London for King Constantine of Greece. The gown is estimated to sell for between US$200,000 and US$400,000.
Another highly anticipated piece is an off-the-shoulder magenta silk and lace evening dress, designed by Victor Edelstein, that’s also estimated between US$200,000 and US$400,000. Diana wore the dress in London and in Hamburg, Germany, in 1987. Edelstein also designed one of Diana’s most famous looks—the ink-blue velvet, mermaid-style gown she wore while dancing with John Travolta at the White House.
Other garments that will be offered in the auction include a pink floral shirtdress (estimate: US$100,000-US$200,000), a Victorian revival evening gown with a fitted bodice and a Basque waist (estimate: US$100,000-US$200,000) and a two-piece yellow and navy skirt suit (estimate: US$30,000-US$50,000), all designed by Catherine Walker, one of Princess Diana’s closest collaborators.
Julien’s Auctions
Many of Diana’s accessories, such as shoes, handbags, and hats, will also be sold. Some notable items include a pair of Kurt Geiger emerald green satin-jewelled vamp evening shoes (estimate: US$2,000-US$4,000) and a yellow and black felted wool turban-style hat, designed by Royal milliner Philip Somerville (estimate: US$10,000-US$20,000).
A portion of the auction proceeds will benefit Muscular Dystrophy U.K. Additionally, highlights of the collection will be on view at K11 MUSEA in Hong Kong from April 18-29 and at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Ireland, from June 11-27.
“We are also delighted to bring back many of Diana’s favourite fashion ensembles to Asia and Europe that she wore on some of her highly publicised international royal appearances and humanitarian efforts, such as her Catherine Walker suit from her 1989 visit to Hong Kong,” Nolan said.
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The U.S. now has more billionaires than China for the first time in a decade, driven by AI and a booming stock market.
By ABBY SCHULTZ
Fri, Mar 28, 2025 3 min
3 min
The number of U.S. billionaires in the world reached 870 in mid-January, outpacing the number in China for the first time in 10 years, according to a snapshot of the wealthiest in the world by the Hurun Report.
The U.S. gained 70 billionaires since last year, powered by a rising stock market, a strong dollar, and the insatiable appetite for all things AI, according to the 14th annual Hurun Global Rich List . China gained nine billionaires overall for a total of 823. Hurun is a China-based research, media, and investment group.
“It’s been a good year for AI, money managers, entertainment, and crypto,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said in a news release. “It’s been a tough year for luxury, telecommunications, and real estate in China.”
Overall, the Hurun list—which reflects a snapshot of global wealth based on calculations made Jan. 15—counted 3,442 billionaires in the world, up 5%, or 163, from a year ago. Their total wealth rose 13% to just under $17 trillion.
In November, New York research firm Altrata reported that the billionaire population rose 4% in 2023 to 3,323 individuals and their wealth rose 9% to $12.1 trillion.
Elon Musk, CEO of electric-car maker Tesla and right-hand advisor to President Donald Trump, topped the list for the fourth time in five years, with recorded wealth of $420 billion as of mid-January as Tesla stock soared in the aftermath of the U.S. election, according to Hurun’s calculations.
The firm noted that Musk’s wealth has since nosedived about $100 billion, falling along with shares of Tesla although the EV car maker is benefiting on Thursday from Trump’s 25% tariff on cars made outside the U.S.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk’s wealth stood at about $336 billion as of the market’s close on Wednesday, although measuring his exact wealth —including stakes in his privately held companies and the undiscounted value of his Tesla shares—is difficult to precisely determine.
The overall list this year contained 387 new billionaires, while 177 dropped off the list—more than 80 of which were from China, Hurun said. “China’s economy is continuing to restructure, with the drop-offs coming from a weeding out of healthcare and new energy and traditional manufacturing, as well as real estate,” Hoogewerf said in the release.
Among those who wealth sank was Colin Huang, the founder of PDD Holdings —the parent company of e-commerce platforms Temu and Pinduoduo—who lost $17 billion.
Also, Zhong Shanshan, the founder and chair of the Nongfu Spring beverage company and the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise , lost $8 billion from “intensifying competition” in the market for bottled water. The loss knocked Zhong from his top rank in China, which is now held by Zhang Yiming founder of Tik-Tok owner Bytedance. Zhang is ranked No. 22 overall.
Hurun’s top 10 billionaires is a familiar group of largely U.S. individuals including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison. The list has France’s LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in seventh place, three notches down from his fourth ranked spot on the Bloomberg list, reflecting a slump in luxury products last year.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 11 on Hurun’s list as his wealth nearly tripled to $128 billion through Jan. 15. Other AI billionaires found lower down on the list include Liang Wenfeng, 40, founder and CEO of DeepSeek, with wealth of $4.5 billion and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, with $1.8 billion.
Also making the list were musicians Jay-Z ($2.7 billion), Rihanna ($1.7 billion), Taylor Swift ($1.6 billion), and Paul McCartney ($1 billion). Sports stars included Michael Jordan ($3.3 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion), Floyd Mayweather ($1.3 billion), and LeBron James ($1.3 billion).
Wealth continues to surge across the globe, but Hoogewerf noted those amassing it aren’t overly generous.
“We only managed to find three individuals in the past year who donated more than $1 billion,” he said. Warren Buffet gave $5.3 billion, mainly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Michael Bloomberg —ranked No. 19 with wealth of $92 billion—gave $3.7 billion to various causes. Netflix founder Reed Hastings, ranked No. 474 with wealth of $6.2 billion, donated $1.1 billion.
