Princess Diana’s ‘historic’ sheep sweater fetches over $1mn at auction

New York: A red sweater featuring a black sheep among rows of white ones worn by the late Princess Diana has fetched more than $1.1 million at an auction in Sotheby’s, New York.

In a tweet on Thursday, the auction house said: “Frenzied bidding pushed Princess Diana’s historic black sheep Warm & Wonderful sweater to sell at $1.1 million today in our inaugural Fashion Icons auction.”

According to Sotheby’s, Diana wore the sweater in 1981 to a polo match of Prince Charles.

Also that year, a letter from the Buckingham Palace to Warm and Wonderful — a British luxury knitwear brand — had “politely explaining the jumper had been damaged and requested either a repair or replacement”.

“Warm and Wonderful sent her a replacement sweater that she wore in 1983 to another polo match,” the auction house said in a description of the item.

Bidding had opened on August 31 and the top bid stayed under $200,000 until the auction’s final minutes.

Sotheby’s had estimated the value of the sweater at $50,000 to $80,000.

It however, did not disclose the identity of the winning bidder.

A BBC report said the sweater, which was unearthed in an attic in March, commanded a higher price than many other objects tied to the “People’s Princess” that were sold at auctions in recent years.

The sweater’s design is often described as symbolic of Diana’s place within the royal family.

IANS