Stars of the show: Three of Princess Diana’s gowns are sold for £1.3million at auction after being bought for just £120,000 by a grandmother saving money to buy a house in 1997

• Dresses originally bought by businesswoman Ellen Petho for $150,000 in 1997
• Petho raised more than $1million for charity by putting dresses on display in US 

Three of Princess Diana’s gowns have sold at auction for £1.3 million – shattering their expected sale prices.

A red Bruce Oldfield silk gown which was worn by the Princess to the Hot Shots film premiere in 1991 had a minimum estimated sale price of $200,000 (£160,450) but was sold on Friday for $571,500 (£458,480).

A custom-made black velvet and ivory Catherine Walker dress she wore to a private event sold for $508,000 (£407,540) – more than eight times its lower estimate of $60,000 (£48,130). 

The same designer’s black and jade gown, which Diana wore to a gala in Canada in 1991, had a minimum estimate of $100,000 (£80,220) but also went for $571,500.

Julien’s Auctions, in Beverly Hills, California, sold the gowns as part of its Legends: Hollywood & Royalty auction. 

Three of Princess Diana ‘s gowns have sold at auction for £1.3 million – shattering their expected sale prices, including a red Bruce Oldfield silk gown worn to the Hot Shots film premiere in 1991, which sold for $571,500 (£458,480)

A custom-made black velvet and ivory Catherine Walker dress worn by Princess Diana to a private event sold for $508,000 (£407,540) – more than eight times its lower estimate of $60,000 (£48,130)

Martin Nolan, the auction house’s executive director, said: ‘Our record-breaking sale of these gowns exceeded all expectations.’

The dresses were originally bought by Ellen Petho, an American businesswoman who paid $150,000 for five of Princess Diana’s dresses at a Christie’s auction in New York in June 1997, using money she had saved to buy a house.

The gowns had been donated by Princess Diana to raise money for charity, two months before her death. 

Mrs Petho, who died in January aged 82, also raised more than £1 million for charity by putting the dresses on display in the US.

Her daughter, Karrie, 60, told the Mail: ‘Our mother read the inscription inside [the auction catalogue] about Prince William telling his mother that the dresses shouldn’t sit in her closet; that they should be out in the world and doing good. 

‘I think that’s what inspired her.’

The same designer’s black and jade gown, which Diana wore to a gala in Canada in 1991, had a minimum estimate of $100,000 (£80,220) but also went for $571,500

Mrs Petho’s widower, Louis, 83, sold the gowns on Friday to help raise money for a scholarship fund for mature art and design students.

Other items in the auction included a pink Givenchy dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany’s, which sold for $444,500 (£356,600), and the wedding rings of actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, which went for $190,500 (£152,830).

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