Renae Plant carefully lifts a flowing cream gown embroidered with shimmering falcons.
The dress is the one Princess Diana wore during a royal visit to Saudi Arabia in 1986.
“Incredible,” Plant said as she examines it while wearing white gloves.
For Plant, the gown is more than couture. It’s a piece of living history. And nearly three decades after her untimely death in Paris, Princess Diana’s influence still shines as brightly as the gowns she once wore.
The Australian-born curator of the Princess Diana Museum’s connection to Diana began as a schoolgirl.
“I was 12 years old the first time I met Diana, and she came straight out of the ginger factory, and I just looked up and she was just standing right there, and I was speechless for the very first time in my life,” Plant laughs. “She shook my hand, and I was just, “Oh my gosh”.”
That day, Plant picked up a tiny clay platypus the princess had dropped.
“I went over to the police and I said, ‘Lady Di dropped this’. And the policeman looked at me, looked at my hand and closed my hand. He said, ‘She must have dropped it to give it to you.’ And so that little platypus is kind of what got me started,” Plant said. “Thirty-five years later. I never in a million years would have thought that I’m on the destiny that I’m on right now, preserving her life and legacy.”
Renae Plant. (Photo courtesy Renae Plant)
That chance encounter inspired what would become a lifelong mission. Plant has since collected thousands of items — everything from the famous black sheep sweater to handwritten letters — now showcased inside a 14-gallery virtual museum that allows anyone, anywhere, to explore Diana’s world. She even sought approval from Diana’s sons before launching the project.
“I did write to Prince William and Harry to, you know, let them know that that was my intention to really preserve all of her pieces,” Plant said. “They wrote back saying they gave me their blessing, which I would not have done what I’m doing if I didn’t get that letter from them.”
Earlier this year, Plant secured one of the most personal treasures yet —Diana’s “Caring Dress”, a bright, colorful dress she often wore around children, which sold for $520,000 at auction. It was the same gown Diana wore during a 1988 visit to Sydney, when Plant met her for a second time.
“To be able to preserve that dress which represents her kindness, her compassion,” she said. “It represents exactly what we’re doing with the museum. So I just felt like that piece was meant to find its true home again.”
Beyond the collection, Plant has co-written a new book with Richard Dalton, Diana’s longtime hairdresser. “It’s All About the Hair: My Decade with Diana“ traces the life of the Princess through her iconic fashion and hairstyles, and uses QR codes to connect readers directly to items in the museum, creating what Plant calls an “interactive repository” of stories and style.
For Meredith Constant, a royal media commentator, fashion is just a piece of Diana’s continued hold on the public.
“I think what captivates people about Diana is that she can both be seen as a victim to the institution and the way she was treated, and the way her divorce played out with Charles in the media, and also as a sympathetic figure,” she said. “And I think that watching her start to triumph, to leave the royal family, to get out on her own, I think a lot of people can relate to that story, even though she was a princess. I think particularly for Americans, though, I think we really love that bucking of tradition.”
That fascination extends to the monarchy itself.
“Part of it is the Disney-fication of monarchy, and our idea of what it means to be a princess. And for some, that is the ultimate fantasy. So being able to see people live it out, and especially when you look at Kate Middleton, now the Princess of Wales, or Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, I think it fulfills a fantasy that a lot of us have.”
And as younger generations discover Diana through documentaries, TikTok trends, and The Crown, Constant says her influence won’t fade.
“I just think she is going to continue to be a figure who fascinates people.”
Plant agrees.
“Still to this day, she’s the most, you know, iconic, humanitarian, kind person the world ever saw.”