The historic black Christina Stambolian dress, a.k.a. Lady Di's iconic ‘Revenge Dress,’ is up for grabs. If you have $150,000 to $300,000 (approx. ₹1.45 crore to ₹2.9 crore),, that is. This dress has everything, layers of silk, glamour, a leggy hem, royal scandal and a cheating husband (sold separately)!

Let me take you back to 1994. Prince Charles had just admitted on national TV, in an ITV documentary, that he had been unfaithful during their marriage. The same night, Diana had a Vanity Fair fundraising dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in London. Everyone assumed she'd stay home. Instead, she showed up and gave the world its most legendary reply, without saying a single word. Power move? Iconic!

And the last-minute drama makes it even better. Her stylist Anna Harvey said Diana ‘wanted to look a million dollars.’ So she ditched a way-too-polite Valentino gown at the final hour for this off-the-shoulder, strapless silk number with an asymmetric hemline and a chiffon train, by Greek designer Christina Stambolian. Then came the royal necklace, black clutch and black heels. Bellissima! It went from a cocktail dress to a statement in the time it took to photograph her.

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Now the dress is headed to Sotheby's, with the hammer falling on 9 December. Sotheby's expects it to go for up to £220,000 (approx. ₹2.9 crore). Before that, it's on a world tour like a true celebrity, London from 18 to 24 September, Hong Kong in early October, Geneva in early November, and finally New York, where it will be sold.

This is the first time it's been on the block since 1997, when Diana herself sold 79 of her dresses to raise money for cancer and Aids charities, just months before her death.

Here's the sweet part. A Glasgow couple, Briege Mackenzie and her husband Graeme, bought it back then for £39,098 (approx. ₹51.5 lakh). Not to wear it (she said "I can't fit in it," lol), but because the money was going to the charity Children First. Briege is now selling after her husband's passing, saying that bidding on it was "one of the great days of our life together."

Thirty years on, she says, you can say the words anywhere in the world and everyone knows exactly which dress you mean. So true!

Sotheby's is also throwing in a rare copy of the 1997 auction catalogue, signed by Diana and Stambolian, which credits Prince William for the idea of auctioning the dress. Part of the proceeds will go to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital through the NHS Lothian Charity.

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For context, Diana's vintage Jaguar XJ40, the car she arrived in that night, sold earlier this year for £66,250 (approx. ₹87 lakh). And her black sheep sweater went for a mind-blowing £920,000 (approx. ₹12.1 crore) in 2023. So yes, be ready to fight tooth and nail for this one!

Morgane Halimi of Sotheby's put it best, Diana turned a dress into one of the most powerful messages she ever made, and took back her own story when everyone else was telling it for her. Bravo!

(Disclaimer: All INR prices are approximate conversions from USD and GBP, based on an exchange rate of roughly ₹96.5 per US dollar as of 24 September 2026. Actual amounts may vary with currency fluctuations.)