Copy of Princess Diana's 1981 wedding dress sold for £100,000

Dec 8, 2005, 17:43 GMT

An exact copy of Princess Diana's 1981 wedding dress has sold for £100,000 at an auction.

The replica of the ivory silk dress - worn at fittings by the late British princess - was made by designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, after being commissioned by waxwork museum Madame Tussauds.

The dress went on sale in North London after being the property of the museum for more than 20 years.

The beautiful creation sold for twice its reserve price of £50,000 to a mystery telephone bidder at the Proud Gallery.

Auction house boss John Collins said the dress, which has a 40m silk taffeta train, was "a real collector's item".

However, the decision to sell the gown has outraged its designer Elizabeth Emanuel.

Emanuel has accused Madame Tussauds of trying to profit from "a small piece of history".

She is quoted in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper as saying: "In the run-up to the wedding, we were asked by Diana's office if we could make a copy of the dress for Madame Tussauds.

"We only charged Tussauds a nominal fee, just a few thousand pounds to cover the cost of the materials. To find out that they are now flogging our work is astounding.

"The princess hoped it would be a small piece of history that would be put on display for the world to enjoy. It's like they are selling off the family silver.

"Why can't they just donate it to a museum? I'm sure there are others that would appreciate it."

A spokesperson for Madame Tussauds, famous for its lifelike wax models of celebrities, has defended the decision to auction the dress.

The representative said: "The dress was displayed for a year after Diana's wedding and was one of our most popular attractions, but since then it has only been taken out of the archives twice. It is just gathering dust."

Diana's original dress is on display at her childhood home, Althorp.

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