NEED TO KNOW

  • Over 300 pieces from Princess Diana’s wardrobe are included in Princess Diana’s Style & A Royal Collection
  • Presented by Julien’s Auctions, the collection is one of the largest auctions of items that once belonged to Diana
  • Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions, tells PEOPLE about how Diana’s charitable legacy is honored

Princess Diana approached every detail of her life with kindness at the forefront.

Speaking with PEOPLE about the many meaningful and historic items once belonging to the late Princess of Wales that make up Princess Diana’s Style & A Royal Collection, Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions, shared a little-known fact about how Diana managed her wardrobe.

“We learned through this how generous Diana was, always giving items. And you never see a coat from Diana come to auction, because she used to get her butler or her staff or friends to drive around London, [in] January, February, [in the] freezing cold,” he shared.

“She’d find homeless people, and she would give her coats away,” he added. “That’s how she was — without any spectacle or whatever.”

1986 Catherine Walker evening gown.

Courtesy of Julien’s Auctions

A number of items that make up the collection have charitable components that honor the charitable royal’s legacy. While some are hitting the auction block for the first time, others return with stories, such as Princess Diana’s 1986 Catherine Walker Falcon evening gown.

“This beautiful dress was designed by Catherine Walker, with the falcons in migration mode all the way down the back. She wore this to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on a Royal visit back in the late 1980s,” Nolan shares.

“When Diana did her own auction in 1997, just two months before she suddenly passed away, this was one of the dresses that she sold for charity. She sold over 70 gowns at the behest of her son Prince William and to raise money for her charities. She raised over $3 million, which was huge at that time.”

Princess Diana’s Lady Dior purse.

Courtesy of Julien’s Auctions

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Diana would come to work with high-end designers while continuing her relationship with her favorite British designers, as she became more than just a member of the royal family.

“She worked with Anna Harvey from British Vogue, an editor, and other designers because she always wanted to spotlight British designers and up-and-coming designers. But then the people that she was advising her said, ‘Diana, you’re more than just a British royal. You’re a global icon,'” Nolan explains.

“So then she started wearing Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Versace. So she wore more of the more internationally known brands.”

Princess Diana.

Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty

Princess Diana’s Lady Dior purse, photographed with her on many different occasions, is another item available in the collection.

“When Princess Diana was in France in September 1995, Bernadette Chirac was the first lady of France at the time. She wanted to give Diana a gift, so she chose a Dior bag. She called up Dior. They gave her the Chouchou bag, which this bag was initially known as,” Nolan shares.

“And it was fabric. When Bernard Arnault was told that this gift was going to happen, he said, ‘Retract it,’ because this was a prototype, because they were now doing this bag in lambskin,” he continues.

Princess Diana carries her Lady Dior purse.

Tim Graham/Getty

“So took back the fabric one, gifted this to Diana, and this is the bag she wore when she went to Argentina, November 1995. Photo matched everything, the detail, the seaming, the stitching. And so the Chouchou bag then became so popular that they renamed it the Lady Dior bag. And it’s the most talked about, sought-after item that we could have in this entire lot.”

Nolan continues, “People just love, love, love this bag. If you were to buy it in the high street today, cost you somewhere between $6,500 and $7,000, if you could get it. We estimate this one, Princess Diana’s, [will go for] $20,000 to $40,000, but it’ll go to the roof.”

Princess Diana’s Style & A Royal Collection begins Thursday, June 26 at 10:00 a.m. PT at The Peninsula Beverly Hills.