A Princess Diana sweatshirt sells for $53,532
Princess Diana’s Virgin Atlantic sweatshirt sold for $53,532 according to Boston-based RR Auction.
“We are thrilled at the price achieved and considering that the proceeds will be donated to help a family in need — we could not be happier for everyone involved,” – Bobby Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction.
Diana’s go-to workout wear was given to her by business magnate Richard Branson, which Diana later presented to her longtime personal trainer, Jenni Rivett. Rivett served as the personal trainer to Princess Diana for over seven years and plans to donate the proceeds from the sale to help a Malawian family based in South Africa, where she is originally from.
The dark blue medium/large cotton/polyester sweatshirt features a screen-printed image of the Virgin Atlantic’ Flying Lady’ logo. Included with the sweatshirt is a small gift tag bearing a note signed from Princess Diana, which reads: “Dearest Jenni, Lots of love from, Diana, x.”
In a 2018 interview with the Yahoo! series The Royal Box, Rivett recounted Diana’s decision to simplify her workout outfits: ‘Every single session all the media were outside camped with their stepladders, and cameras and lenses and everything. 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.’
The sweatshirt is accompanied by two letters of provenance from Rivett, with one reading, in part: “This sweatshirt was given to HRH by Sir Richard Branson. It became her most worn top on her regular visits to the gym. She felt there were far more important issues to focus on in the world than her gym attire and therefore decided that wearing the famous Virgin sweatshirt to every session, would be a good way to stop the media frenzy!
A few months before her untimely death, she called me to say she had left a few sweatshirts for me. Amongst them, this one—which I have now decided to part with.”
The winning bid came from a collector based in California, who wishes to remain anonymous. Highlights from the sale include a Benjamin Franklin handwritten letter pre-war letter from England to his wife sold for $50,330. A George Washington handwritten letter referencing a physicist-turned-British spy sold for $31,251 while a declaration of Independence 1848 Force Print sold for $22,691. An Apple-1 Computer Operation Manual from 1976 sold for $12,956 and an Alexander Graham Bell typed letter sold for $12,501.
www.rrauction.com
