Princess Diana’s famous black sheep sweater sells for $1.14M, becomes world’s most expensive jumper

A sweater famously worn by Princess Diana in 1981 fetched more $1 million at an online auction as part of Sotheby’s inaugural Fashion Icons sale.

The Warm & Wonderful jumper emblazoned with several white sheep — and one black one — was expected to sell for somewhere between $50,000 and $80,000. But once the bidding started, the garment’s value skyrocketed, thanks to a 15-minute flurry of offers that included 44 proposals, according to TMZ.

The gavel finally fell following a winning bid of $1.143 million — which reportedly makes the sweater the world’s most expensive.

“In June of 1981, a newly engaged Lady Diana Spencer wore a red sweater dawned with a whimsical black and white sheep motif: one of the first designs by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne of ‘Warm and Wonderful’ knitwear established in 1979,” Sotheby’s advertised on its auction page.

The sweater became an instant sensation after Diana was first photographed donning the vibrant design. A few weeks later, she wrote the designers a letter saying she had damaged the sweater and was requesting a replacement or repair.

According to Sotheby’s, “a new sweater was knitted entirely” and sent to Diana, who in turn wrote the designers a thank-you note. Two years later, she wore that sweater to a polo match with Prince Charles, this time styling it with a white collared blouse and black ribbon tie.

For more than 40 years, Osborne and Muir “assumed the original [sweater] had been repaired and sent to a customer.” However, earlier this year, Osborne came across the keepsake in an attic. After determining it was, indeed, the original design worn by Diana, the sweater was put on the auction block, accompanied by the pair of letters Diana sent.

Lady Diana Spencer became the Princess of Wales in July 1981 when she married then-Prince Charles. They had two sons before divorcing in 1996. The unconventional “People’s Princess” died a year later in a tragic car crash in France. She was 36.

In September 2022, Charles was officially proclaimed Britain’s new king following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the age of 96.