Latest news with #PrincessDianaMuseum
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Diana superfan who founded virtual museum about the princess takes out a FOURTH mortgage to buy a $1.9 million collection of the royal's clothes
The founder of the Princess Diana Museum has revealed that she has taken out a fourth mortgage in order to secure the almost multi-million dollar famous wardrobe. Renae Plant went to Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles on Thursday and shelled out nearly $1.9 million on 35 ensembles worn by Princess Diana over the years. Held at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, the 'Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection' sale featured more than 300 lots which included some of her outfits that have never been auctioned before. Renae had a childhood encounter with Diana when she was a young girl and has now made it her lifelong mission to collect the Princess of Wales ' belongings to share with the rest of the world. She launched the Princess Diana Museum in 2019 and has managed to get her hands on a whopping 2,700 of Diana's personal and historical items over the years - but all of this has come at a huge cost personal cost. The curator confirmed it was 'maybe the third or fourth time' she and her husband, Livinio Stuyck Sanchez, had mortgaged their home. 'When you see them go for so little, you can't not preserve them, if that makes any sense. Because we're not rich. We're not wealthy. This is all from donations. We always mortgage our house when we do this kind of stuff,' Renae told PEOPLE. She managed to bag herself some of the Princess' most famous pieces, including her legendary 'caring dress' as well as other gowns designed by the likes of Elizabeth Emanuel and Catherine Walker - whose looks are still being worn today by her daughter-in-law, Princess Kate. Other items include dozens of Diana's shoes and the peach fascinator she wore on her honeymoon send-off with her then-husband, Prince Charles in 1981. The piece set Renae back $26,000. Renae was overcome with emotion and collapsed onto the floor when she was told that she had won the 'caring dress'. The vibrant blue floral frock - which Diana had worn during her tour of Australia with Charles - cost her $400,000 but with fees, the final price was $520,000. When asked how she felt in the moment she won the item, Renae said: 'I was shaking. Diana was definitely looking over us today.' 'That's our angel number - 333, Diana's angel number,' Renae told People, referring to her auction paddle. 'She's been guiding me for the last decade to do this for her.' Angel numbers are a sequence of three or four repeating numbers, such as 111, 222, or 444, which are believed to hold significant messages from the universe. Renae added that she felt as though the dress 'absolutely represents her kindness, her compassion [and] her humanitarianism'. The dress - designed by Bellville Sassoon - was one of the highlights of Julien's Auctions' collection as it was worn several times between 1988 and 1992. Diana opted to don the garment during trips to hospitals where she would connect and speak to patients, with the late designer Sassoon once admitting that the name of the frock came from these emotional visits. Renae also won the bid to secure Diana's 1986 Catherine Walker Falcon Evening Gown for an eye-watering $455,000, with a starting bid of $50,000. A portion of the proceeds earned from the auction went to Muscular Dystrophy UK. The stunning all-white dress with an array of birds printed on it was designed by Catherine Walker for her 1986 Gulf Tour, which included countries Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In 2017, the gown appeared on exhibition at Kensington Palace - where the Princess lived - for the 'Diana: Her Fashion Story' event. A portion of the proceeds from the June 26 auction benefitted Muscular Dystrophy UK, connecting to Princess Diana's charitable legacy. Renae says that she and her husband Livinio are planning on combining the items that they have collected over the years to create a sizeable travelling exhibit. They want to start showcasing Diana's impressive wardrobe in the US before 'travelling the world to let everyone see it'. However, their dream is to take pieces back to the UK 'where they belong' so they can be honoured there permanently. Renae also won the bid to secure Diana's 1986 Catherine Walker Falcon Evening Gown at an eye-watering $455,000, with a starting bid of $50,000 Renae was 12 when she first encountered Diana in 1983 when she found a palm-size stone platypus while on a school trip to see the then-Prince and Princess of Wales. She grew up in southern Queensland when Diana and Charles travelled there to visit a ginger factory in Yandina, about a 10-minute drive from Renae's home. She covertly crept under the barricades which meant she saw the Princess entering and leaving the factory - before becoming speechless when Diana paused in front of her. 'She stopped for what seemed like an eternity and waited for me to say something,' Renae previously told Town & Country. But as they swiftly moved on, she chased after them and ended up finding a small platypus figurine in the dirt. Renae attempted to try and give it to Diana, as she thought it may have fallen out of her hand, before a police officer told her: 'She must have dropped it to give it to you'. Since then Renae has felt as though it was her life's mission to help put all of Diana's clothing into one big collection to showcase her outstanding style to the world.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Woman Collapses After Winning Princess Diana's Iconic Dress and Video Goes Viral
Woman Collapses After Winning Princess Diana's Iconic Dress and Video Goes Viral originally appeared on Parade. Often, the most beautiful moments happen when pure emotion meets historical significance, and Renae Plant just delivered both in a viral auction moment that has the internet collectively reaching for tissues. The Princess Diana Museum founder's reaction to winning the People's Princess's iconic "Caring Dress" has become the kind of wholesome content we all needed. The drama unfolded at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills during the "Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection" sale on June 26. As bidding climbed from $125,000 to the final hammer price of $400,000 (plus fees totaling $520,000), Plant sat in the front row, bidder number 333, watching her dream potentially slip away. When the auctioneer's gavel finally fell in her favor, Plant's reaction was pure magic. She leaped from her seat, danced with joy, and declared "Oh my god!" before collapsing to the floor in an overwhelming rush of emotion. The moment, captured on video, shows her laughing and crying simultaneously as the room erupted in applause. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Princess Diana Museum ™ (@theprincessdianamuseum) The dress itself carries profound significance beyond its $520,000 price tag. The 1988 Bellville Sassoon floral day dress earned its "Caring" nickname because Diana repeatedly wore it during hospital visits between 1988 and 1992. According to auction house executives, as reported in People, the blue silk creation featuring rainbow flowers was designed to be "colorful, approachable, likeable, and huggable." 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 For Plant, this victory represents more than collecting memorabilia – it's personal history. At 18, she met Diana outside St. Andrews Cathedral in Sydney while wearing a white bikini top and shorts, ditching beach plans to shake hands with her idol. "That moment became the beginning of a lifelong connection to Diana's legacy," Plant shared in a previous Instagram post. "And here's the full-circle moment: She (Princess Diana) wore her blue floral Belville Sassoon dress that day." Fans couldn't be happier about Plant's win, "What a beautiful story!! 🙌🙌 and now you have the dress!! 💗" The virtual Princess Diana Museum, founded by Plant in 2019, now houses over 2,700 items and represents one of the world's largest Diana collections. Her philosophy remains simple: "You cannot put a price tag on history."Plant's emotional auction victory proves that sometimes the most authentic reactions create the most beautiful viral moments. In a world of manufactured content, genuine joy over preserving Diana's legacy feels refreshingly pure. Woman Collapses After Winning Princess Diana's Iconic Dress and Video Goes Viral first appeared on Parade on Jun 27, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
