More than 800 items of clothing, accessories and personal belongings of Princess Diana have become part of a rare collection attracting considerable interest.
Behind this treasure trove is American Renae Plant, who has spent 12 years finding, buying and preserving objects that belonged to the late princess.
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Her journey as a collector began in 2014, after a friend suggested she attend a Julien’s auction featuring six dresses worn by Diana.
At the time, Plant and her husband, Livinio Stuyck, were considering investing in a pizzeria in Los Angeles. But the auction visit changed their plans and sparked a passion that would last more than a decade.
Today, Renae Plant believes she owns one of the world’s largest private collections of Princess Diana’s personal belongings.
Her interest in Diana began many years earlier. In 1983, when she was 12, she met the princess during a visit to a ginger factory in Australia.
During that encounter, Diana dropped a small clay object. After the princess left, Plant broke away from her classmates and crossed the barrier to find it.
The memory of that moment remained special to her and, according to Plant, became the foundation of her emotional connection to Diana.
In 2018, she founded the nonprofit organization “The Princess & The Platypus,” which supports charities linked to the humanitarian causes Diana championed during her lifetime.
To expand the collection, Plant and Stuyck have made significant financial sacrifices. The couple have even refinanced their home mortgage to raise the money needed for auction purchases.
One of her first major purchases came in 2015, when Plant paid $200,000 for a dress designed by Atelier Versace and worn by Diana.
Among the collection’s most prized items is a floral dress by designer Belville Sassoon, known as the “Caring Dress.” Diana wore it during visits to children’s hospitals, and Plant bought it for $520,000.
At the same auction, the collector acquired another 34 objects. Among them was an ostrich-feather hat that Diana had worn during her honeymoon. Plant paid $26,000 for the hat.
The couple’s total spending that day reached approximately $1.9 million.
Some of her efforts, however, have been unsuccessful. Plant failed to secure at auction the black sheep-patterned sweater that Diana wore in 1981.
The garment sold for a record $1.14 million. Plant later found and bought the second identical sweater, as Diana had owned two of them.
Part of the collection will go on display in California at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in the exhibition “Princess Diana: Love, Life and Legacy—A Life of Giving.”
The exhibition will trace Diana’s story from her childhood to her tragic death in 1997.
Visitors will be able to see her wedding dress, various evening outfits, personal letters, childhood clothes, the tape recorders she used to record her recollections, and other private belongings.
Among the exhibits will be the famous velvet dress Diana wore in 1985 when she danced with actor John Travolta at a White House dinner during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The dress has been borrowed specifically for the exhibition.
Another notable outfit is a black dress by designer Jacques Azagury that Diana never had the chance to wear. She had requested several alterations to the design, but her death in August 1997 left the dress unfinished.
Although her passion for collecting continues, Plant acknowledges that she cannot afford to buy every object she wants.
On December 5, the “revenge dress,” created by designer Christina Stambolian, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York. Diana wore it in 1994 following Prince Charles’s public statements about his marital infidelity.
The starting price for the dress is expected to be around $300,000.
Plant has said she would like to add this dress to her collection too, but currently lacks the financial means to buy it.
For the collector, Diana’s belongings represent more than a financial investment. She sees the endeavor as a personal mission to preserve and bring together as many pieces connected to Princess Diana’s life and legacy as possible.
