Princess Diana’s ‘Swan Lake’ necklace just went on our fantasy wish list
Hey there, royal enthusiasts. If you’ve got a spare $12 million lying around, Princess Diana’s ‘Swan Lake’ necklace just went on sale, and it’s right at the top of our fantasy wish list!
The necklace, which contains 178 diamonds and pearls, is royally gorgeous. And while it sounds as if it might feature swans, spoiler alert: It does not. The super gorgeous piece of jewelry earned its nickname after Diana wore it to a ballet performance of Swan Lake at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1997.
Ballet held a special place in Diana’s heart. When she was a young girl, she dreamed of being a ballerina. As Princess of Wales, she was patron of the English National Ballet and even performed with British ballet dancer Wayne Sleep at the Royal Opera House in 1985.
The Swan Lake necklace is extra special because she wore it to the ballet only two months before her tragic, unexpected death in a car accident in Paris.
When she wore the necklace back in 1997, its creator, Crown Jeweler Garrard, was also working on a pair of matching earrings. The new $12 million price tag will get you both. (Bargain!)
In 2010, a couple from Ukraine purchased the set for $632,000. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, and they’re offering it for sale through Guernsey’s auction house in New York. If the asking price sticks, they’ll be looking at a profit of around $11.5 million.
They just might get it. The necklace, in particular, is considered historically significant since Diana wore it to one of her final public engagements. It also happened to be the night she met Mohamed Fayed (who once owned Harrods in the U.K. and the Hotel Ritz Paris), Dodi Fayed’s father. In the weeks before Diana passed away, she and Dodi were thought to be dating. He died alongside her in the Paris car crash.
This isn’t the first time that a personal item belonging to Princess Diana has been made available to the public. Just three months before she died, Diana herself auctioned off 79 of her evening dresses and donated all the proceeds to worthy causes. According to Princess Diana at the time, the event was her son Prince William’s idea. It ended up raising $3.25 million for cancer and AIDS-related charities.
Since it’s a tad bit difficult for us regular peeps to scrape together $12 million, we’re thinking William might want to pick up the Swan Lake necklace for Princess Kate. Or maybe Prince Harry could buy it for his lovely American girlfriend, Meghan Markle.
After all Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!
