Canadian Princess Diana dress auction ends in confusion, accusations

The Canadian auction house that helped to arrange the sale of 14 dresses belonging to the late Princess Diana in June – in which bidding fetched about $3 million in just 20 minutes – now says many of the storied garments weren’t actually sold.

Including in the impressive collection was a showcase evening gown worn by Diana on a visit to the U.S. in 1985. The dark-blue dress, immortalized when the princess danced with Grease star John Travolta at the White House during a reception hosted by then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, was said by a Waddington’s auction house official in June to have sold for a “bargain” price of about $800,000 at the Toronto sale.

The 13 other dresses on offer reportedly sold for some $2 million.

Now, however, a Waddington’s spokesman has acknowledged the “Travolta” gown and most of the other Diana dresses supposedly sold at the company’s June 23 auction were not, in fact, purchased by buyers.

The Sunday Telegraph has published a report saying that just three of the dresses were sold at the auction and a fourth shortly afterward, netting only $400,000 in total.

The British newspaper also has reported that the top bidders on the dresses in Toronto were blocked from completing those transactions by the collection’s Florida-based consignor, Maureen Rorech Dunkel, who originally purchased the items at a charity auction in the U.K. just weeks before Diana’s death in August 1997.

Diana herself had organized the 1997 auction as a fundraiser for groups battling AIDS.

Dunkel, who emerged as a top buyer at that sale, later exhibited the dresses she purchased at various venues in Britain and the U.S., and wrote a book about her experiences owning the artifacts.

“My part in handling the legacy of this special princess was approached with respect and the knowledge that ‘things must be done right’ as it related to curating an experience people would see as a fitting tribute to someone who did so much for so many,” Dunkel said in a message published in the Waddington’s catalogue before the June sale.

“Selling the collection is a poignant and personal event to me,” she added. “My only hope is that the new owners of the dresses, whoever they may be, enjoy them as I have and in some way use them to assist those in need.

“After all, that is the reason Princess Diana put them up for sale to begin with.”

Waddington’s, a respected firm that bills itself as “Canada’s auction house since 1850,” offered little information on Monday to clarify the confusion surrounding the June auction.

“Although it does often publish lists of prices realized at its regular art auctions, the matter now at issue relates to a special auction to which special considerations apply,” Waddington’s said in a statement released to Postmedia News. “As a result, Waddington’s has not published a list of prices realized at this auction, nor has it made any other public comment as to the outcome, and there will be no further comment at this time.”

But at the time of the auction, Stephen Ranger, the company’s vice president of business development, did tell a reporter that the $800,000 sale price for the Travolta dress represented “an exponential return on its original purchase price, and I think 10 years from now, people will be looking on that price as a bargain.”

News of the sale of that dress, as well as the others offered in the auction, was widely reported around the world.

Asked why Waddington’s hasn’t corrected the impression that the 14 dresses were sold for millions, company spokesman Vince Ciarlo said Monday the auction house was respecting Dunkel’s “confidentiality.”

He added that Ranger’s comments came “from the auction floor” and that “we did have those buyers” at the time. But “things that transpired following the auction” led to problems with buyers completing the transactions on most of the dresses, he said.

While Dunkel’s collection of Diana dresses is known to have been at the centre of claims from creditors in a financial dispute in the U.S., Ciarlo said the June auction has not resulted in legal problems for Waddington’s.

Waddington’s announced ahead of the sale that some of the proceeds from the auction would be given to the National Ballet School of Canada.

Katharine Harris, spokeswoman for the elite Toronto school for Canada’s aspiring ballet dancers, said Monday that Waddington’s had followed through with a $5,000 gift.

The Canadian auction house that helped to arrange the sale of 14 dresses belonging to the late Princess Diana in June – in which bidding fetched about $3 million in just 20 minutes – now says many of the storied garments weren’t actually sold.

Including in the impressive collection was a showcase evening gown worn by Diana on a visit to the U.S. in 1985. The dark-blue dress, immortalized when the princess danced with Grease star John Travolta at the White House during a reception hosted by then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, was said by a Waddington’s auction house official in June to have sold for a “bargain” price of about $800,000 at the Toronto sale.

The 13 other dresses on offer reportedly sold for some $2 million.

Now, however, a Waddington’s spokesman has acknowledged the “Travolta” gown and most of the other Diana dresses supposedly sold at the company’s June 23 auction were not, in fact, purchased by buyers.

The Sunday Telegraph has published a report saying that just three of the dresses were sold at the auction and a fourth shortly afterward, netting only $400,000 in total.

The British newspaper also has reported that the top bidders on the dresses in Toronto were blocked from completing those transactions by the collection’s Florida-based consignor, Maureen Rorech Dunkel, who originally purchased the items at a charity auction in the U.K. just weeks before Diana’s death in August 1997.

Diana herself had organized the 1997 auction as a fundraiser for groups battling AIDS.

Dunkel, who emerged as a top buyer at that sale, later exhibited the dresses she purchased at various venues in Britain and the U.S., and wrote a book about her experiences owning the artifacts.

“My part in handling the legacy of this special princess was approached with respect and the knowledge that ‘things must be done right’ as it related to curating an experience people would see as a fitting tribute to someone who did so much for so many,” Dunkel said in a message published in the Waddington’s catalogue before the June sale.

“Selling the collection is a poignant and personal event to me,” she added. “My only hope is that the new owners of the dresses, whoever they may be, enjoy them as I have and in some way use them to assist those in need.

“After all, that is the reason Princess Diana put them up for sale to begin with.”

Waddington’s, a respected firm that bills itself as “Canada’s auction house since 1850,” offered little information on Monday to clarify the confusion surrounding the June auction.

“Although it does often publish lists of prices realized at its regular art auctions, the matter now at issue relates to a special auction to which special considerations apply,” Waddington’s said in a statement released to Postmedia News. “As a result, Waddington’s has not published a list of prices realized at this auction, nor has it made any other public comment as to the outcome, and there will be no further comment at this time.”

But at the time of the auction, Stephen Ranger, the company’s vice president of business development, did tell a reporter that the $800,000 sale price for the Travolta dress represented “an exponential return on its original purchase price, and I think 10 years from now, people will be looking on that price as a bargain.”

News of the sale of that dress, as well as the others offered in the auction, was widely reported around the world.

Asked why Waddington’s hasn’t corrected the impression that the 14 dresses were sold for millions, company spokesman Vince Ciarlo said Monday the auction house was respecting Dunkel’s “confidentiality.”

He added that Ranger’s comments came “from the auction floor” and that “we did have those buyers” at the time. But “things that transpired following the auction” led to problems with buyers completing the transactions on most of the dresses, he said.

While Dunkel’s collection of Diana dresses is known to have been at the centre of claims from creditors in a financial dispute in the U.S., Ciarlo said the June auction has not resulted in legal problems for Waddington’s.

Waddington’s announced ahead of the sale that some of the proceeds from the auction would be given to the National Ballet School of Canada.

Katharine Harris, spokeswoman for the elite Toronto school for Canada’s aspiring ballet dancers, said Monday that Waddington’s had followed through with a $5,000 gift.