From the green Burberry coat she wore when she was in a relationship with Prince Charles to the iconic Versace dress on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar, not to mention jewelry, LPs and a teddy bear from her childhood, it’s a collection of treasures from every period of Princess Diana’s life.
Author and Diana expert Renae Plant has traveled the world to collect a plethora of exhibits that once belonged to the late princess, including some of the most famous dresses in the world.
But what’s most surprising is that this enchanting collection remains completely under lock and key, locked away in the darkness of an anonymous warehouse in Los Angeles.
Millions of Diana fans have been able to view the exhibition online, but Renae feels it is time to see her enormous collection up close and in real life.
That is why she is now looking for investors who want to help her build a physical home base for this special company.
This beaded dress, known as the Swan Lake dress, was worn by French designer Jacques Azagury during a performance by the English National Ballet at the Royal Albert Hall in London in June 1997. The dress takes pride of place in Renae Plant’s collection.
The collection also includes the ‘Washington Dress’, a red silk georgette dress that the princess wore to a Red Cross Ball Gala dinner at the British Embassy in the capital.
The museum will even display a ‘spare’ version of Diana’s famous wedding dress – in case the original is damaged – by David and Elizabeth Emanuel. Diana is pictured leaving St Paul’s Cathedral with the original after her wedding to the Prince of Wales in London in 1981
“There’s something magical about seeing a dress Diana wears with your own eyes,” explains Australian-born Renae.
‘Diana captured an era, a moment in time. You can’t help but be moved by it. ‘My dream is to find someone who has experience of historical collections like this, to make the Princess Diana Museum a brick and mortar home. The time has come.’
Among the 2,700 individual items is a green velvet dress worn by Catherine Walker at the National Portrait Gallery in March 1995.
There is also a couture beaded blue-gray silk dress by the same designer that Diana wore to a charity auction of her dresses in June 1997, shortly before her death. It too is instantly recognizable to fans.
Even more poignant is the wool Chanel jacket and belt Diana wore to the funerals of her grandmother and father.
The collection, which can be viewed in 3D online, includes a replica of the Swan Lake dress Diana wore to a Royal Gala performance of the ballet at London’s Royal Albert Hall in June 1997, hand-embellished by designer Jacques Azagury with crystal beading.
And then there’s the ‘Washington’ dress, a red silk georgette gown that the princess wore to a Red Cross ball gala dinner at the British Embassy in Washington in June 1997.
Renae’s museum covers all decades of Diana’s life.
A worn-out teddy bear from your childhood and a Barbie doll sit next to beautiful baby dresses, a paint box and an amethyst friendship ring.
From her teenage years, the collection includes LP albums, including favorites by Abba, the Beatles and Bryan Adams. There is also an Elton John disc with, touchingly, a heart drawn by Diana around the song ‘Candle in the Wind’ on the cover.
Elton would become one of Diana’s closest confidants and this is of course the song he would later adapt into a moving tribute that he played live at Diana’s funeral in 1997.
Visitors to the Princess Diana Museum can see images of the princess’s Hunter wellies, worn during a photo shoot in Balmoral, Scotland in May 1981 with her then-fiancé Prince Charles, prior to their wedding on July 29, 1981. They look particularly well-worn.
The collection includes Diana’s classic olive green Burberry wool coat with ‘Diana Spencer’ sewn onto the label.
She wore it often when she dated Charles, including when she was pictured at the Ludlow Races on October 24, 1980, with Camilla Parker Bowles – the woman who would become her nemesis and of whom Diana famously said: ‘There were three people in this marriage.’
Diana’s ‘black sheep’ sweater is part of the collection, as is, intriguingly, a ‘backup’ wedding dress by designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel, which serves as a backup in case the real dress is stolen or burned.
Diana’s memorable ‘black sheep’ sweater features in the collection. She is pictured here watching polo in Windsor in 1980. The lone black sheep is visible among the white ones on the front
The newlywed princess wore her Hunter wellies during her honeymoon in Balmoral, Scotland in 1981
The extensive collection also includes more unusual items, such as the bicycle that Diana’s friend Dr. James Colthurst rode to Kensington Palace when he and Diana secretly recorded interviews. These interviews would later be used to devastating effect by Andrew Morton in his 1992 book ‘Diana: Her True Story.’
At the other end of the technological scale are the electronic devices that allow the paranoid princess to protect her phone, so convinced was she that “men in gray suits” in the palace were spying on her.
Renae herself spent hours interviewing members of Diana’s inner circle, including her security guards, designers, staff and her personal hairdresser Richard Dalton, who styled the princess’s hair for ten years.
She is the author, with Mr. Dalton, of a new book, It’s All About the Hair: My Decade With Diana, a 444-page tome that chronicles how he created some of the princess’s most memorable looks.
“It is very important to me that Diana’s legacy is preserved,” Renae said.
‘Before I opened my online museum, I wrote to both Prince Harry and Prince William to ask their permission, and they gave it. Without their approval, I would never have started this project.’
Renae’s passion for the princess began after meeting Diana as a child.
That was when Diana visited The Ginger Factory in Yandina, Queensland, near Renae’s birthplace, in April 1983 and shook hands with Renae. Little did she know at the time that she would one day create one of the largest Diana collections in the world.
A few moments later, as she walked away, the princess dropped a small clay model of a platypus into the ground.
Renae still remembers the moment: ‘Diana and Charles were just about to get into the car when I ran up to a police officer who had closed the gate and said: ‘Lady Di dropped this!’
“He looked me in the eye and said, ‘She probably dropped it to give it to you.’”
And Renae has been cherishing the little platypus ever since.
It even served as the inspiration for the name of her charity Princess and The Platypus, which also includes her Diana museum.
Renae met Diana for the second time when the Prince and Princess of Wales toured Australia in 1988.
“Even though I was born in Australia, like millions of people around the world, I could identify with Diana,” Renae recalls. “She was a princess, but she was vulnerable and struggling just like the rest of us.
‘Diana radiated compassion for humanity. She was the first royal to remove her gloves and shake hands with the public.
‘She helped reduce the stigma surrounding AIDS, when everyone was afraid to touch visibly ill AIDS patients.
‘Diana touched millions of people with her style, grace and human kindness.
“For me, this is a legacy of love. It’s about preserving and honoring Diana, both now and for future generations.”
Renae bought her first Diana dress in December 2014, a red dress by designer Caroline Charles.
“My husband Livinio and I had saved some money and wanted to invest it in a restaurant. ‘But when I saw the dress – it was a dress that Diana was photographed in in 1982 when she was carrying Prince William – I knew I had to buy it,’ she said.
‘I see it as my mission to preserve her legacy for future generations.
‘At some point Diana will become the mother of the king, when William takes power, and she will remain a historical figure long after we are gone.’
Renae has also collected a collection of Diana’s jewelry.
It features a pair of gold Avon earrings, a gift from Diana’s mother Frances Shand Kydd, which Diana subsequently gave away to raise money.
The collection also includes Venus black pearl and Venus white pearl drop earrings, both gifts from her father Earl Spencer. These were also donated to a charity to raise money for AIDS.
“There’s something magical about seeing a dress Diana wears with your own eyes,” says Renae. Diana is pictured in Vancouver wearing a dress designed by Jacques Azagury
A striking diamond necklace from Butler & Wilson, given to Diana by Prince Charles, ended up in the Renae museum via the same route.
Perhaps one of Renae’s most poignant exhibits is Jacques Azagury’s ‘Final Goodbye’ dress, made from black silk georgette.
The last dress Diana ever wore was during a fitting with Azagury, one of her favorite designers, in August 1997. She was dead a few days later.
The pins are still stuck in the unfinished back straps, waiting for Diana’s return.
