Princess Diana’s iconic “Black Sheep” sweater fetches over $1.1m at auction

Sotheby’s announced on Thursday that Princess Diana’s iconic red sweater, adorned with rows of fluffy sheep and famously featuring one black sheep among the white ones, was sold at auction for over $1.1 million. Princess Diana donned the distinctive knit garment shortly after her engagement to then-Prince Charles, specifically during a June 1981 polo match, a moment from her early days as a royal-to-be.

The “Black Sheep” sweater, playfully patterned and symbolic in hindsight of her journey within the British royal family, became one of Diana’s most emblematic clothing items. The frenzied bidding by internet participants drove the garment’s price to ten times Sotheby’s initial estimate of $50,000 to $80,000, reaching a total of $1.1 million, inclusive of fees and commission.

This sale represents the highest price ever paid at auction for a garment belonging to Princess Diana, surpassing the sum achieved by her Infanta-style ball gown sold earlier in January for $604,000. It also marked the most valuable sweater ever sold at an auction.

Designed by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne, the “Black Sheep” sweater was crafted by their knitting company, Warm and Wonderful. Notably, it featured a distinctive black sheep in a sea of white ones. Following its prominence, a replica of the sweater even made its appearance in the fourth season of Netflix’s “The Crown,” a series chronicling the recent history of the House of Windsor.

Accompanying the sweater, the auction included a letter requesting repair, a thank-you note from Diana’s private secretary, Oliver Everett, and the fascinating backstory of its creators finding the original sweater in the attic in 2023, decades after its creation.