From the green Burberry coat she wore when she dated Prince Charles to an iconic Versace dress on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar, not to mention jewelry, LPs and a childhood teddy bear, it’s a collection of treasures from every era of Princess Diana’s life.
Author and Diana expert Renae Plant has scoured the globe to collect a cornucopia of items that once belonged to the late princess, including some of the world’s most famous dresses.
But the most surprising thing of all is that this fascinating collection remains completely under lock and key, confined in the darkness of an anonymous warehouse in Los Angeles.
While millions of Diana fans have been able to see the exhibition online, Renae believes it’s time for her vast collection to be seen up close and personal.
That’s why today she is looking for investors to help her build a physical home for this extraordinary company.
Known as the Swan Lake dress, Diana wore this beaded gown by French designer Jacques Azagury to a performance by the English National Ballet at the Royal Albert Hall in London in June 1997. It takes pride of place in Renae Plant’s collection.
The collection also includes the ‘Washington Dress’, a red silk georgette column dress worn by the princess to a Red Cross gala dinner at the British Embassy in the capital.
The museum will even feature a “spare” version of Diana’s famous wedding dress (in case the original was damaged) by David and Elizabeth Emanuel. Diana is pictured wearing the original as she leaves St Paul’s Cathedral after her wedding in London to the Prince of Wales in 1981.
“There’s something magical about seeing with your own eyes the dress Diana wore,” explained Renae, who was born in Australia.
‘Diana captured an era, a moment in time. It’s impossible not to be moved by seeing her. ‘My dream is to find someone with experience working with historical collections like this to help me find a real home for the Princess Diana Museum. The time has come.’
Among the 2,700 separate items is a green velvet dress worn by Catherine Walker at the National Portrait Gallery in March 1995.
There’s also a grey-blue, beaded haute couture silk dress by the same designer that Diana wore at a charity auction of her dresses in June 1997, shortly before her death. That, too, is instantly recognisable to fans.
Even more poignant is the wool jacket and Chanel belt that Diana wore to the funerals of her grandmother and father.
The collection, which can be viewed online in 3D, includes a replica of the Swan Lake dress worn by Diana to a royal gala performance of the ballet at London’s Royal Albert Hall in June 1997, hand-beaded by designer Jacques Azagury.
Then there is the ‘Washington’ dress, a red silk georgette dress which the princess wore to a Red Cross gala dinner at the British Embassy in Washington in June 1997.
Renae’s museum covers every decade of Diana’s life.
A well-worn children’s teddy bear and a Barbie doll sit alongside exquisite baby dresses, a box of paints and an amethyst friendship ring.
From her teenage years, the collection includes vinyl albums that include her favourite records by Abba, the Beatles and Bryan Adams. There is also an Elton John record that, touchingly, has a heart drawn by Diana around the song “Candle in the Wind” on the cover.
Elton would become one of Diana’s closest confidants and this is the song, of course, that he would later rework into a moving tribute played live at Diana’s funeral in 1997.
Visitors to the Princess Diana Museum can see images of the Hunter rain boots the princess wore during a photo shoot in Balmoral, Scotland, in May 1981 with her then fiancé Prince Charles, ahead of their wedding on July 29, 1981. They look particularly well-worn.
The collection features Diana’s classic olive green Burberry wool coat with ‘Diana Spencer’ stitched on the label.
She often wore it when out with Charles, including on 24 October 1980 when she was photographed at Ludlow Races with Camilla Parker Bowles, the woman who would become her nemesis and of whom Diana famously said: “There were three people in this marriage.”
Diana’s “black sheep” sweater is part of the collection, as is, interestingly, a “spare” wedding dress made by designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel, a backup in case the royal gown was stolen or burned in a fire.
Diana’s memorable “black sheep” sweater features in the collection. Pictured here watching a polo match in Windsor in 1980, the lone black sheep can be seen amongst the white ones at the front.
The newlywed princess wore her Hunter rain boots on her honeymoon in Balmoral, Scotland, in 1981.
The extensive collection includes more unusual items, such as the bicycle that Diana’s friend Dr James Colthurst used to travel to Kensington Palace while he and Diana secretly recorded interviews that Andrew Morton would later use to devastating effect in his 1992 book ‘Diana: Her True Story’.
At the other end of the technological scale, there are electronic encryption devices that the paranoid princess connected to her phones, so convinced was she that “men in grey suits” at the Palace were spying on her.
Renae herself has conducted hours of interviews with members of Diana’s inner circle, including her security guards, designers, staff members and her personal hairdresser, Richard Dalton, who styled the princess’s hair for a decade.
She has co-authored a new book with Mr Dalton, ‘It’s All About the Hair: My Decade With Diana’, a 444-page tome describing how she created some of the princess’s most memorable looks.
“It’s very important to me that Diana’s legacy is preserved,” Renae said.
“Before I opened my online museum, I wrote to Prince Harry and Prince William to ask for permission, which they granted. I would never have embarked on this project without their approval.”
Renae’s passion for the princess arose after meeting Diana as a child.
It was then that Diana visited The Ginger Factory in Yandina, Queensland, near Renea’s hometown, in April 1983 and shook Renae’s hand, although at the time she could hardly have known that she would one day curate one of the world’s great Diana collections.
Moments later, as she walked away, the princess dropped a small clay model of a platypus on the ground.
Renae recalled the moment: ‘Diana and Charles were about to get into the car and I ran towards a policeman who had closed the door and said: ‘Lady Di dropped this!’
‘He looked me in the eye and said, “He must have dropped it to give it to you.”
And Renae has cherished the little platypus ever since.
It even inspired the name of her charity The Princess and the Platypus, to which her Diana museum belongs.
Renae met Diana for the second time when the Prince and Princess of Wales toured Australia in 1988.
“Even though I was born in Australia, like millions of people around the world, I could relate to Diana,” Renae recalls. “She was a princess, but she was vulnerable and struggled like the rest of us.
‘Diana radiated compassion for humanity. She was the first royal to take off her gloves and shake hands with the public.
‘She helped lessen the stigma around AIDS when everyone else was afraid to touch visibly ill AIDS patients.
‘Diana touched millions with her style, grace and human kindness.
“For me, this has been a legacy of love. It’s about preserving and honouring Diana now and for future generations.”
Renae bought her first Diana dress in December 2014, a red number by designer Caroline Charles.
“My husband Livinio and I had saved up some money and were about to invest in a restaurant. But when I saw the dress (it was the one Diana was wearing in the photograph with Prince William in 1982), I knew I had to buy it,” she said.
I see it as my mission to preserve his legacy for future generations.
‘At some point, Diana will become the King’s mother, when William takes over, and she will remain a historical figure long after we are gone.’
Renae has also amassed a collection of Diana’s jewelry.
These are a pair of gold Avon stud earrings, a gift from Diana’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd, which Diana later gave away to raise money.
The collection also includes Venus’ black pearl and white pearl earrings, both gifts from her father, Earl Spencer. They were also donated to a charity to raise funds for the fight against AIDS.
“There’s something magical about seeing with your own eyes the dress that Diana wore,” says Renae. Diana is pictured in Vancouver wearing a dress designed by Jacques Azagury
A striking Butler & Wilson diamond necklace given to Diana by Prince Charles arrived at Renae’s museum by the same route.
Perhaps one of Renae’s most moving displays is Jacques Azagury’s ‘Final Goodbye’ dress in black silk georgette.
The last dress Diana tried on was at a fitting with Azagury, one of her favorite designers, in August 1997. She was dead days later.
The pins are still there, stuck into the unfinished back straps, awaiting Diana’s return.
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