‘Largest Princess Diana Auction’ Features Frocks, Hats and Bags  

Miniatures of Princess Diana's Royal wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel are seen on display next to sketches and sewing machine in the "Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection", the largest collection of the Princess of Wales' fashion ever to appear at auction in history, at a public exhibition in The Museum of Style Icons, in Newbridge, Ireland, June 9, 2025. (Reuters) 
Miniatures of Princess Diana's Royal wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel are seen on display next to sketches and sewing machine in the "Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection", the largest collection of the Princess of Wales' fashion ever to appear at auction in history, at a public exhibition in The Museum of Style Icons, in Newbridge, Ireland, June 9, 2025. (Reuters) 
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‘Largest Princess Diana Auction’ Features Frocks, Hats and Bags  

Miniatures of Princess Diana's Royal wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel are seen on display next to sketches and sewing machine in the "Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection", the largest collection of the Princess of Wales' fashion ever to appear at auction in history, at a public exhibition in The Museum of Style Icons, in Newbridge, Ireland, June 9, 2025. (Reuters) 
Miniatures of Princess Diana's Royal wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel are seen on display next to sketches and sewing machine in the "Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection", the largest collection of the Princess of Wales' fashion ever to appear at auction in history, at a public exhibition in The Museum of Style Icons, in Newbridge, Ireland, June 9, 2025. (Reuters) 

From colorful frocks and hats to handbags and shoes, items belonging to the late Princess Diana go under the hammer this month in what Julien's Auctions says is the largest collection of her fashion to go to auction.

The live and online "Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection" sale will take place on June 26 at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, offering an array of fashion items Diana wore, according to Reuters.

“This is the largest Princess Diana auction because we have over 100 items from her amazing life and career keeping in mind Diana herself sold over 70 of her dresses back in 1997 to raise money for her charity,” Martin Nolan, executive director and co-founder of Julien’s Auctions, told Reuters on Monday. He was speaking at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge in Ireland during a pre-sale exhibition.

Among the highlights is a 1988 silk floral dress by Bellville Sassoon, dubbed the "caring dress" because Diana wore it several times on hospital visits, with a price estimate of $200,000-$300,000.

A cream silk embroidered evening gown Catherine Walker designed for Diana's 1986 Gulf tour has a similar price tag, while a Bruce Oldfield two-piece yellow floral ensemble she wore for Royal Ascot in 1987 is estimated at $100,000-$200,000.

Other sale items include a Dior handbag gifted to her by former French first lady Bernadette Chirac in 1995, a sketch of Diana's 1981 wedding dress with tulle fabric cut-offs from when she married then Prince Charles in 1981 and a peach hat she wore for her honeymoon send-off.

The auction also includes pieces belonging to other British royals including the late Queen Elizabeth II and the queen mother.

Nolan said Julien’s Auctions had previously sold a dress belonging to Diana for $1.14 million.

"People do consider these items as an asset class now, because if people own these items today, chances are in years to come they will sell them for more than what they pay for (at) auction," he said.



Dutch Art Sleuth Recovers Stolen Trove of UNESCO-listed Documents

This handout photograph obtained on July 8, 2025, courtesy of Arthur Brand shows Dutch art detective Arthur Brand posing with stolen documents from the 15th to the 19th century, including several UNESCO-listed archives from the world's first multinational corporation Dutch East India Company (VOC), in Amsterdam on June 24, 2025. (Photo by ARTHUR BRAND / AFP)
This handout photograph obtained on July 8, 2025, courtesy of Arthur Brand shows Dutch art detective Arthur Brand posing with stolen documents from the 15th to the 19th century, including several UNESCO-listed archives from the world's first multinational corporation Dutch East India Company (VOC), in Amsterdam on June 24, 2025. (Photo by ARTHUR BRAND / AFP)
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Dutch Art Sleuth Recovers Stolen Trove of UNESCO-listed Documents

This handout photograph obtained on July 8, 2025, courtesy of Arthur Brand shows Dutch art detective Arthur Brand posing with stolen documents from the 15th to the 19th century, including several UNESCO-listed archives from the world's first multinational corporation Dutch East India Company (VOC), in Amsterdam on June 24, 2025. (Photo by ARTHUR BRAND / AFP)
This handout photograph obtained on July 8, 2025, courtesy of Arthur Brand shows Dutch art detective Arthur Brand posing with stolen documents from the 15th to the 19th century, including several UNESCO-listed archives from the world's first multinational corporation Dutch East India Company (VOC), in Amsterdam on June 24, 2025. (Photo by ARTHUR BRAND / AFP)

A Dutch art sleuth has recovered a priceless trove of stolen documents from the 15th to the 19th century, including several UNESCO-listed archives from the world's first multinational corporation.

Arthur Brand, nicknamed the "Indiana Jones of the Art World" for his high-profile recovery of stolen masterpieces, said the latest discovery was among his most significant.

"In my career, I have been able to return fantastic stolen art, from Picassos to a Van Gogh... yet this find is one of the highlights of my career," Brand told AFP.

Many of the documents recount the early days of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), whose globetrotting trading and military operations contributed to the Dutch "Golden Age", when the Netherlands was a global superpower.

The 17th century VOC documents contain a "fascinating glimpse into the events of that time in places like Europe, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Latin America," said Brand.

One document from 1602 recounts the first meeting of the VOC, during which its famous logo -- considered the world's first corporate logo -- was designed.

VOC merchants criss-crossed the globe, catapulting the Netherlands to a world trading power but also exploiting and oppressing the colonies it conquered.

The company was also a leading diplomatic power and one document relates a visit in 1700 by top VOC officials to the court of the Mughal emperor in India.

"Since the Netherlands was one of the most powerful players in the world at that time in terms of military, trade, shipping, and colonies, these documents are part of world history," said Brand.

UNESCO agrees, designating the VOC archives as part of its "Memory of the World" documentary heritage collection.

"The VOC archives make up the most complete and extensive source on early modern world history anywhere," says UNESCO on its website.

The trove also featured early ships logs from one of the world's most famous admirals, Michiel de Ruyter, whose exploits are studied in naval academies even today.

De Ruyter gained fame for his daring 1667 raid to attack the English fleet in the River Medway, one of the greatest humiliations in world naval history.

The ship's logs, written in his own hand, relate the admiral's first experience of naval warfare, the 1641 Battle of St Vincent against the Spanish fleet.

No less enthralling is the "who-dunnit" of how Brand came by the documents.

Brand received an email from someone who had stumbled across a box of seemingly ancient manuscripts while clearing out the attic of an incapacitated family member.

This family member occasionally lent money to a friend, who would leave something as collateral -- in this case the box of documents.

"I received some photos and couldn't believe my eyes. This was indeed an extraordinary treasure," Brand told AFP.

Brand investigated with Dutch police and concluded the documents had been stolen in 2015 from the vast National Archives in The Hague.

The main suspect -- an employee at the archives who had indeed left the box as collateral but never picked it up -- has since died.

Brand compared the theft to a daring heist by a curator at the British Museum, who spirited away some 1,800 objects, selling some of them on eBay.

The art detective said he spent many an evening sifting through the documents, transported back in time.

"Wars at sea, negotiations at imperial courts, distant journeys to barely explored regions, and knights," he told AFP.

"I felt like I had stepped into Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island."