Diana betrayed no trace of what had happened an hour before when her experts’ London soldiers, Farrer and Co., at 6.30pm, received an offer for a divorce settlement.
Otherwise, the Princess, who described herself as ‘Queen of Hearts’ in her famous Panorama interview, was safely looking to the future, as confirmed by one of the fundraiser’s most good guests- American couturier and bridalwear designer Pat Kerr Tigrett.
In fact, Diana was planning what would become a popular charity auction of her night gowns at Christie’s, in New York, along with a vacation to Memphis, to explore the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and take a tour of Elvis Presley’s Graceland Mansion.
Pat, who is on the table of the doctor, bought four of Diana’s clothes at the Christie’s bidding and became a companion of the late princess.
‘I was talking to her about the doctor,’ she says. ‘She now knew about St. Jude and was heavily involved in the organization, but I invited her to visit Memphis and experience the doctor herself.’
‘Her eyes just lit up and she said: “I would love to do just that. I could send the boys Princes William and Harry with me.'”
Pat is now selling three of Diana’s clothes via Julien’s auction house in and they could lift up to £1million – certainly bad for an £80, 000 purchase.
‘I was so thrilled,’ continues Pat of Diana’s designed attend to Memphis.
She and Elvis were close friends of mine, and I planned to take them to Graceland, which she would have loved, and to offer them to them, but painfully it was too late. ‘Life is but delicate.’
Pat, who describes herself as an ‘Expat’, first met Diana in 1984 when she lived in London’s Regent’s Park with her father John Tigrett, a Tennessee investor.
Sir James Goldsmith’s death, who was a firm companion, married to his second wife Lady Annabel Goldsmith at the time.
Jemima, Zac, and Ben were the children of Lady Annabel’s family, and the couple frequently socialized with Pat and her father.
It was obvious that Pat and Diana would finally fulfill because Annabel was also very close to Diana– she was once described as the “next family” to the Princess.
The event came when Annabel invited the partners, and their five- yr- older son Harrison, to Sunday lunch at the family home- Ormeley Lodge near Richmond Park- and Diana, 23, was there with, next a toddler.
‘When I first met Princess Diana, she was with Prince William. Before Harry was born, it was.’ I thought, “How young is she, how young is she taking on such a very difficult responsibility as the upcoming Queen of England?”
But she had such a great time and adored her boys, which was completely charming.
Over the course of 13 years, they attended various events and events up.
Pat is a collection of ancient fabric, textiles and memorabilia, and owns more than 1, 000 pieces, including a cloth belonging to Charles I, a Queen Anne bag and an album of photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s wedding, and was a typical at London’s auction houses Christie’s, Bonham’s, Sotheby’s and Philips.
So, the designer, known as the ‘Lace Lady’ in the States, was on the guest list for one of the most anticipated auctions of the 20th century, when Diana, inspired by Prince William, put up for auction 79 of her evening gowns to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital Fund and the AIDS Crisis Trust.
Pat and her husband were invited to the £150- a- ticket gala in New York, on June 23, 1997, when Diana, clad in a pink- and- blue floral beaded Catherine Walker cocktail dress, made two circuits of the crowded hall, signing catalogues, greeting guests, and saying farewell to her dresses, which were displayed on mannequins in an ‘English country garden’ setting, complete with real geraniums.
And they were in the front row two days later when 1, 100 people crammed into Christie’s Park Avenue auction house in Manhattan, to bid for a moment in history. While museums, fashion connoisseurs, haute couture collectors and Diana fans leafed through the glossy catalogues, cheers went up for the successful bidders.
Pat bought four dresses at the auction, paying a total of £80, 241: a Murray Arbeid midnight blue ballerina- length tulle gown embroidered with diamanté stars, for which she bid £29, 053, a £15, 218 Victor Edelstein magenta silk and lace dress, which had a flounced skirt, a £21, 444 cream silk Catherine Walker dress, embroidered with a flight of gold and silver sequinned falcons on the bodice and the train, and a £14, 526 black velvet Catherine Walker gown with a lace collar.
She later stated to Joan Rivers and TV hosts: “I bought tonight for a different reason than the majority of buyers that were there because I’m a serious collector of historical Royal textiles and Royal memorabilia.”
‘It just seemed the right choice because I work in fashion as well. It is a part of history.’
However, just two months later, Diana was tragically killed in a car accident in Paris, and her dresses went into storage. ‘I was at the University of taking Harrison back to college with some friends,’ she recalls. ‘We had all had dinner, and when we returned to our hotels, I turned on the TV to find out. I was horrified.’
“I will never forget the language of the presenter speaking from London.” You could tell that explaining why she had left was difficult for him.
‘The phones were ringing like crazy, and I just cried. It was so awful. She had so many admirers, and those children of hers were her life. The minute she died, I literally put my gowns away.’
However, Diana’s death was not the end of Pat’s connection with the. The following year, she received a phone call from the Princess’s sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale, asking if she would fly over to Britain, from Memphis, to make a documentary about Diana’s wardrobe.
The film was to accompany the exhibition Diana: A Celebration, which was held at the Princess’s ancestral home Althorp Park, in aid of the Diana, Memorial Fund.
‘I had just left London,’ she explains, ‘But Diana’s sister Sarah called me and said they really wanted me. I then quickly jumped on a plane and rolled back in.’
In the pouring rain, a driver picked me up at the Covent Garden Hotel at 6am and drove me to Althorp.
‘We got there about 8.30am, drove through these magnificent gates, to the stables on the left- hand side of the house, which is where the museum was.’
The film crew interviewed me while I was waiting for me. I had a really good view of the 28 outfits being displayed, including the famous landmine outfit because I was the only person in the museum other than them. It was remarkable.
‘As a bridal designer, I will never forget the thrill of seeing her wedding gown and the bridesmaids’ dresses.
‘This was the most famous wedding gown in modern history, for Diana’s wedding to Charles, Prince of Wales, and I was so excited to be there because I’m so into weddings. I have been all my life really.’
I then visited her grave on the island and walked around Althorp’s grounds to the back of the island.
‘I felt so blessed to be able to say goodbye. I photographed where she was buried, gave her a photo, prayed for her, and read the wonderful letters her family wrote.’
Then, eight years later, she received an invitation in the post from Prince William, who was doing his training at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst.
On July 13, 2006, William was participating in a charity polo game at Sandurst.
‘This lovely invitation arrived from Prince William to attend a polo match at Sandhurst,’ she smiles.
It appears that Catherine and the Prince knew each other, and that this gorgeous girl was taking pictures of him.
‘It was a wonderful occasion and, of course, Prince William won. He then entered the trophy-holding area.’
We had such a pleasant conversation about his mother and Althorp, her ancestral home. He surprised me by giving me his trophy, which I adore a lot.
Pat’s dresses remained in storage until 2013 when she was contacted by curators at Kensington Palace, who were organizing the exhibition of Diana’s gowns, entitled Fashion Rules. For the 2013 show and its follow-up Fashion Rules Restyled, she loaned them her Murray Arbeid dress.
Then, in 2017, she donated Diana’s Victor Edelstein gown and Catherine Walker cream dress, both of which she wore to the show with the falcons, a representation of the ruling House.
In the June 27 sale in Los Angeles, Pat is also selling a photograph album which belonged to the Duke of Windsor, an oil painting of, Charles I’s handkerchief and ‘I’ve really enjoyed owning them,’ she explains.’ But it’s time for someone else to have them.’
On June 27, Princess Diana’s Elegance and a Royal Collection will be on view.
Claudia Joseph is the author of Diana: A Life in Dresses, £40 at ACC Art Books.