An item fromPrincess Diana‘s wardrobe — and a tool for her to play with paparazzi! — fetched a high price at a recent auction.
The royal’s Virgin Atlantic sweatshirt sold for $53,532, according to Boston-based RR Auction. The winning bid came from a collector based in California, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Diana was known for wearing the navy sweatshirt featuring the “Flying Lady” logo, a gift from Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, to and from gym sessions. But the article of clothing served more than one purpose — in addition to being a comfortable cover-up, the royal mom wore it repeatedly to bore the paparazzi who were snapping photos of her.
Jenni Rivett, Diana’s longtime personal trainer who received the sweatshirt from Diana as a gift, recalled the story in a 2018 interview with theYahoo! seriesThe Royal Box.
“Every single session all the media were outside camped with their stepladders, and cameras and lenses and everything,” she said. “For her, she just found it so incredibly, ‘Why are they so interested in me when there are more important things to worry about in the world.’ It wasn’t her that asked for all this. I remember one of her strategies was that she was going to wear the same Virgin Active sweatshirt every single session.”
Anwar Hussein/WireImage

Princess Diana’s sweatshirt.RR Auction

Princess Diana in 1995.JOHNNY EGGITT/AFP/Getty

Rivett also wrote letters to accompany the sale.
Princess Diana’s note.RR Auction

Jenni Rivett’s note.RR Auction


Rivett, who served as the personal trainer to Princess Diana for over seven years, plans to donate the proceeds from the sale to help a Malawian family based in South Africa, where she is originally from.
source: people.com