New York (EFE).- The Guernsey’s auction house in New York reported that the sale of a necklace that Princess Diana wore shortly before she died, and her matching earrings, will not take place tomorrow, as planned, since the jewels have found a private buyer.
The diamond and pearl necklace and earrings, known as the “Swan Lake” set and estimated at up to $15 million (13.7 million euros), are the work of the British Royal Jeweler and are speculated to have been commissioned by Dodi Fayed , Diana’s partner, who died with her in the 1997 accident.
But the auction, which was announced a month ago by Guernsey’s and was to be held at the Hotel Pierre, has been “cancelled” because the jewels “have been sold” by a “private agreement,” the company said in an email to EFE today. Director of the house, Susan Jaffe, who did not specify details about the price or the buyer, nor when they were sold.
“Swan Lake”
The Princess of Wales wore the necklace of 175 diamonds and 5 natural pearls in the British National Ballet’s “Swan Lake” performance that opened the 1997 season, when she was photographed more than at any other time in her life. , except for her wedding to Prince Charles.
After wearing it, Diana returned the necklace to the Royal Jeweler to finish making the earrings, but when the set was ready, the accident took place in which the princess, her partner and the driver died, on August 31, 1997, in Paris.
The jewels were auctioned by Guernsey’s in December 1999 and sold to American businessman James McIngvale, who in turn resold them through that same house a decade later privately.
The “Swan Lake” complex has since been in the hands of a “prominent Ukrainian family” who recently turned to Guernsey’s to sell them and use part of the proceeds to “reconstruct” the country, which has been going through a war for a year. past after the invasion of Russia.
Auction of a Princess Diana sweater
The sweater with a black sheep worn by Princess Diana in 1981, famous for its symbolism, will go up for auction on September 7 in New York with a starting price of $50,000 (45,600 euros), Sotheby’s reported Thursday.
The garment is one of the first manufactured by the Warm & Wonderful brand and shows off a naïve print of white sheep on a red background, among which one in black stands out, and it gave much talk to the media, fashion critics and the public. in general.
It is about the original sweater that had been missing until March of this year, when its designers, Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne, found it in their attic, tucked in a small box next to a bedspread, indicates a company note.
After a newly fiancée Lady Diana wore it on a visit to Prince Charles’ polo match, Buckingham Palace told the designers the sweater had been damaged and asked for a patch or replacement, after which they sent new one.
In 1983, when she was already Princess of Wales, Diana wore it again under a white shirt collar and a black ribbon with a bow, combined with white pants, in an iconic outfit that has recently been recovered in the television series “The Crown”. about the British monarchy.
The sweater’s auction will be part of a Sotheby’s sale called “Fashion Icons” and promises to attract attention after a Diana dress quadrupled in price in January this year to more than $600,000.