Almost 30 years ago, on the day admitted to his encounter with Camilla, his estranged wife slipped on a small black amount to switch her own prominent, if silent, information.
On June 29, 1994, Diana wore the “Revenge Dress” for her presence at a showy funding dinner at the Serpentine exhibition as the nation sat down to watch the coming King confess to the presenter. It quickly became known as that.
The Christina Stambolian black velvet silk martini gown, with a side sash and symmetric ruched bodice, won over anyone.
She teamed it with her ruby, jewel, and diamond necklace- which matched her wedding ring- and red nails.
However, according to Stambolian, Diana nearly didn’t buy the £900 dress because she thought it was too risqué, originally wanted it in cream, and only wore it that night in a fit of pique after rival designer Valentino leaked that she was going to wear his dress.
One hit record described it as’ the pièce de résistance…the brave, cruel, traditional little Serpentine Martini possibly the most proper dress always worn by a lady in modern times’.
This was the wistful sp of dark silk that Diana used to sweep her husband wash off the news the morning after his obscene television interview.
‘This is a costume that shows Diana,, totally in control of a sense of her personal price’.
Stambolian, who was born in Greece and trained in Athens, vividly remembers the day that Diana walked into her store, in London’s Beauchamp Place, after having breakfast with her brother Earl Spencer at her favorite restaurant San Lorenzo.
‘Diana bought a dark- and- red small, day dress, a yellowish silk blouse and a small cream sleeveless blouse which added up to about £400,’ she originally recalled.
She said Diana told her: ‘I want a special dress for a special occasion. It doesn’t matter if it is short or long. It has to be something special.’
‘We sat down, and I drew a few sketches on a piece of paper,’ Stambolian continued.
‘The dress was revealing, quite short and showed quite a bit of leg and flesh. About it, Diana wasn’t sure. She thought it was a bit risqué. She desired a longer, longer neck, and more of a covered front.’
‘I told her she had good legs, and she should show them. ” Why not be daring”? I said. She asked her brother Charles and he said: “Do what you think is right”. Finally, she said “yes” to the style then we moved on to the colour.
‘I had black in my mind, but she wanted cream. Diana seemed to me to be a person of color. I didn’t like her in the pale pinks and blues with lots of beading.’
The finely pleated bodice had to be hand pinned and sewn, and the chiffon skirt had to be carefully draped, so it took more than 60 hours to make the dress by two dressmakers.
Christina began to worry that the hand-stitched dress, which had a flirtatious hem, would never be worn in public.
‘I was very disappointed,’ she said. ‘Then I realized that she had been awaiting the ideal moment.’
She had visited Valentino to purchase a dress for that particular date. Then Valentino called every newspaper to inform them that she would be bringing my dress out tomorrow.
She heard that and Diana said: “There’s no way I’m going to do him a favour. I’m going to wear another dress.”
Referring to one of Diana’s favourite ballets, Swan Lake, Stambolian added: ‘I was thrilled to see Diana wear it on that night of all nights.’
‘She chose not to play the scene like Odette, innocent in white.’
‘She was clearly angry. She played it in black like Odile. She wore bright red nail enamel, which we had never seen her do before.’ She was saying: “Let’s be wicked tonight.”
Stambolian did not see Diana again until the reception for the Christie’s auction, in June 1997, when Diana auctioned 79 of her most iconic evening gowns.
She whispered to Stambolian: ‘By the way, that little black dress- I had a job to squeeze into it.’
‘What she meant was she wore it after two years and had put on weight,’ the designer explained.
She looked a little bit sucked into it in the photos, she said. But she was also tall and lean.
The dress was bought for £44, 511 by Scotsman Graeme Mackenzie and his wife Briege, who owned the Body Shop franchise in Scotland.
They intended to display it to raise money for Scottish charities.
After the princess’ death, the couple, from Bridge of Wier, in Renfrewshire, who had three sons, wrapped it in tissue paper and put it in a bank vault.
‘The only noble thing to do was not to use it,’ he said at the time. ‘It would have been inappropriate.’
Since then, it has appeared fewer than a dozen times in public.
But it has raised more than £39, 000 for the charity Children’s First by gracing luncheons in Aberdeen, balls in Stirling, evening functions in Elgin and fashion shows at Bo ‘- ness and Edinburgh.
The notoriety of the dress was a factor in why we were interested in purchasing it, according to Mr. Mackenzie.
Because she only once and only once wore it that night, it has an intrinsic value. It’s a little bit of history.
We met the Princess at the Christie’s auction preview in London and disclosed our plans to use the dress to raise money for charities.
“At the time, charities were complaining about how the National Lottery was affecting their donations.”
I believed that the dress would be a way to draw people to events, and that its notoriety would only serve to accomplish that goal.
A replica, which Stambolian made in 2010, is in the Museum of Style Icons, in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.
‘The replica was made later on,’ explained Stambolian.’ I was staying in Greece, and I had nothing to do so I thought: “I’m going to make that dress again”.
‘I knew the dress very well, so I made a very, very, good copy.’