Back in black: Princess Diana's 'revenge dress' goes on show ahead of Sotheby's auction

LONDON (AP) — Revenge has rarely been so stylish.

A striking black dress worn by the late Princess Diana on the day her estranged husband publicly admitted adultery is going up for auction at Sotheby’s, with a presale estimate of up to $300,000.

First, the “revenge dress,” as it has become known, is going on an international tour, testament to the enduring global fascination with Diana almost 30 years after her death.

The garment, which went on public display Friday at Sotheby’s in London, was worn by Diana on June 29, 1994, the broadcast date of an interview in which the then-Prince Charles acknowledged infidelity.

Diana, who knew the revelation was coming, chose to wear the figure-hugging, off-the-shoulder silk dress by Greek designer Christina Stambolian for a gala at London’s Serpentine Gallery.

Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion, said Diana chose the “beautiful and powerful outfit” as a way to seize control of her own story.

“She always used fashion as a way of expression, but this time (it) was a way to communicate her personal expression of herself,” Halimi said. “The way she felt on that day is that, ‘I’m taking back the story and I’m here and I stand for myself.’”

Images of Diana in the dress, accessorized with a sapphire necklace, black pumps and bright red nail polish, shot around the world. The Sun tabloid proclaimed on its front page the next day: “Revenge is chic.”

The following year Diana gave an interview in which she acknowledged her own extramarital affair, and famously said “there were three of us in this marriage,” in reference to Charles’ paramour Camilla Parker-Bowles, now Queen Camilla. Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, a year before Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris at the age of 36.

The dress is being auctioned for the first time since 1997, when Diana sold it and other garments to raise money for AIDS charities. It has a presale estimate of $150,000 to $300,000, but Sotheby’s experts would not be surprised if it far exceeds that price.

A red sweater adorned with sheep that Diana wore to a polo match in 1981 sold in 2023 for $1.1 million, many times its presale estimate and a record for an item owned by the late royal.

“I personally believe that this dress is the most powerful item linked to Diana,” Halimi said.

“The Diana provenance always attracts collectors,” she added. “But the story of this dress and the universal message that it brings will definitely attract also institutions as well as private collectors who are looking for unique pieces and one-of-a kind items.”

In her lifetime, Diana was a style icon and one of the world’s most photographed women. Her star power has not dimmed, and neither has the fascination with the dramatic disintegration of her marriage to the now King Charles III. A new book by Diana’s brother Charles Spencer has seized headlines again and reignited a public feud between the Spencers and the royal family over the treatment of the princess.

The revenge dress is on show in London until Sept. 24 and travels to Hong Kong and Geneva ahead of its sale in New York on Dec. 9.

A dress worn by the late Princess Diana and known as the ''Revenge Dress'', designed by Christina Stambolian, is unveiled by staff at Sotheby’s auction house in London, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, ahead of its Dec. 9 auction in New York, where it is estimated to sell for US$150,000-300,000. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A dress worn by the late Princess Diana and known as the ''Revenge Dress'', designed by Christina Stambolian, is unveiled by staff at Sotheby’s auction house in London, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, ahead of its Dec. 9 auction in New York, where it is estimated to sell for US$150,000-300,000. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A dress worn by the late Princess Diana and known as the ''Revenge Dress'', designed by Christina Stambolian, is unveiled by staff at Sotheby’s auction house in London, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, ahead of its Dec. 9 auction in New York, where it is estimated to sell for US$150,000-300,000. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A dress worn by the late Princess Diana and known as the ''Revenge Dress'', designed by Christina Stambolian, is unveiled at Sotheby’s auction house in London, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, ahead of its Dec. 9 auction in New York, where it is estimated to sell for US$150,000-300,000. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A dress worn by the late Princess Diana and known as the ''Revenge Dress'', designed by Christina Stambolian, is unveiled by staff at Sotheby’s auction house in London, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, ahead of its Dec. 9 auction in New York, where it is estimated to sell for US$150,000-300,000. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway after serving in the role at the $1 trillion conglomerate for more than 50 years.

Buffett, 96, will become chairman emeritus and will take on his new role immediately, the company said Friday. His son, Howard, will become Berkshire Hathaway’s new chairman, part of a long-planned succession. Howard Buffett has been on the Berkshire Hathaway board since 1993.

Warren Buffett, known by a legion of financial market followers as the Oracle of Omaha, will remain a director. He has been Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman since 1970.

Greg Abel took over for Buffett as the CEO of the $1 trillion conglomerate at the start of this year, even though Buffett remains one of the most influential investors in the world.

“I have served Berkshire since 1965," Buffett said in a letter to shareholders. “Sixty-plus years in, I still have the best job in the world. That is not something many people my age can say, and I have never felt better about what comes next.”

Buffett said that he is confident with Abel and his son Howard leading Berkshire Hathaway.

“Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet,” he said. “Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.”

Michael Withers, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said Buffett took a deliberate approach to Berkshire Hathaway's succession plans and has carried out the transition step by step.

“Buffett seems to have understood that succeeding him wasn’t just about finding another extraordinary leader,” he said. "It was about building a structure that could preserve what makes Berkshire different long after he has stepped away. The test moving forward will be whether Abel and Howard can honor that legacy while still giving Berkshire room to adapt to a market that looks very different from the one Buffett mastered.”

Buffett's fortune has been amassed through Berkshire Hathaway stock. The company, which was a New England textile firm that was built into an investing conglomerate and an icon of Wall Street. In 2024, Berkshire Hathaway became one of the first non-tech companies valued at more than $1 trillion.

Buffett, a longtime philanthropist, has given away roughly $66 billion worth of stock since 2006.

Buffett's take on finance has created its own gravitational pull. When Berkshire Hathaway reveals the stocks that the company has acquired or sold in public disclosures, it can shake markets.

During his time as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the company nearly doubled the returns of the S&P 500, with a 19.9% compounded annual growth rate compared with the index’s 10.4% gain.

“Warren’s impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business," Abel said in a prepared statement. “The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian.”

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway pointed lower before the opening bell Friday.

FILE - Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting May 5, 2019, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)