- Pink Catherine Walker gown bought for £78,000 at the Kerry Taylor auction
- Velvet Bruce Oldfield dress from 1985 raised £50,400 for anonymous seller
- Dresses were bought by Historic Royal Palaces charity which runs Kensington Palace
By Toni Jones
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Two dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales which were bought for nearly £130,000 yesterday will be displayed to the public for years to come.
The gowns, part of an auction of 10 of the princess's dresses yesterday, were bought by the charity Historic Royal Palaces, which runs Kensington Palace, Diana's former residence.
And the palace is hoping to display at least one of the new dresses in an exhibition this summer alongside other items from their Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.
Two dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales will be displayed to the public after being purchased by the Historic Royal Palaces charity yesterday. The charity paid £78,000 for this Catherine Walker gown
To avoid damage, the garments will not go on permanent display but will periodically be shown to the public in exhibitions, a spokeswoman said.
The charity spent £50,400 on a Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown, worn for an official portrait by Lord Snowdon and at the gala opening of Les Miserables at the Barbican Centre in 1985.
They also purchased a pink sequinned crepe dress by Catherine Walker, worn on a state visit to Brazil in 1991, for £78,000.
The garments were originally sold, with a number of others, by Diana herself following her divorce from the Prince of Wales to raise money for charity at the suggestion of Prince William.
While the star lot of the sale at Kerry Taylor Auctions in London sold for £240,000, the auctioneer said she was particularly pleased about the sales to the palace.
The Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown that Princess Diana wore at the gala opening of Les Miserables at the Barbican centre in 1985 sold for £50,400 at the Kerry Taylor auction
Kerry Taylor said: It's important for the generations to come.
'Diana was the people's princess, so the people should be able to see these dresses. This is our heritage, our history.'
A Historic Royal Palaces spokeswoman said: "We are delighted to confirm independent charity Historic Royal Palaces purchased two dresses from the sale of dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales at Kerry Taylor Auctions yesterday.
'The dresses will remain in the UK to become part of our permanent Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, conserving them for future generations and ensuring that visitors to Kensington Palace will be able to see these unique items for years to come.
An employee poses for photographers with the Victor Edelstein evening gown at the Kerry Taylor auction house in London
'The dresses are important examples of the work of two designers the princess chose on many occasions.
'The princess wore the black velvet Bruce Oldfield evening gown in a well-known formal portrait by Lord Snowdon.
'She wore the ivory silk crepe evening gown decorated with pink sequins by Catherine Walker during a state visit to Brazil.
'The two dresses mark the evolution of the princess's style from the romanticism of the mid-1980s to the sleek and sophisticated silhouettes of the early 1990s.'
She added that the charity hoped at least one of the new dresses would go on display in an exhibition at Kensington Palace this summer.
The show will feature dresses worn by the Queen, Princess Margaret and Diana.
Under the hammer: Bidding begins at Kerry Taylor Auctions in London this afternoon
The Fashion Rules exhibition opens on July 4
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