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Diana dresses on display

Fourteen dresses from leading British designers Catherine Walker, Zandra Rhodes, Bruce Oldfield and Victor Edelstein will be shown as part of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection until March.

Elizabeth Whiddett, spokeswoman for the Historic Royal Palaces, said she hoped the princess would have been pleased with the exhibition, which is housed in what used to be a cafe for visitors to the palace.

"It is nice that the dresses are back here, as the princess lived next door," she said. "I suppose it is like them returning home."

All now belong to an American collector, Ms Maureen Rorech-Dunkel, who bought them at the Christie's auction in 1997.

But they were first commissioned, or selected, by the princess between 1985 and 1994 to wear at various formal events around the world.

They illustrate her developing style, and bring to mind some of the occasions - from banquets to premieres - she attended.

"Diana, Princess of Wales was a person with extraordinary style and the exhibition seeks to capture that part of her life," says Director of Kensington Palace, Nigel Arch.

Princess Diana made headlines wherever she went. Over the years, her clothes made almost as much news as she did.

Now, in the minds of many, the dress and the event at which it was worn are inextricably linked.

One unforgettable example is the ink-blue, silk velvet creation from Victor Edelstein, included in the display.

The princess wore this to a state dinner with President Reagan in Washington in 1985 - the night she famously danced with Saturday Night Fever star John Travolta.

Ten of the dresses are from Catherine Walker, favourite designer of the princess.

For 16 years Walker made dresses for the princess that were, she says, "dignified showstoppers".

They include the austere taffeta and silk-velvet dress she wore in 1990 at a gala benefit for the Royal Marsden Hospital and for Scottish dancing at Balmoral Castle.

A few years later, and the princess would be wearing altogether more confident, but infinitely chic, Walker designs.

An off-the-shoulder cream silk crepe dress from a banquet for the King and Queen of Malaysia in 1993 illustrates the princess's growing sophistication.

Another Walker creation, embroidered with beads and sequins, from 1994 shows how the princess gained her reputation as a trendsetter.

Bruce Oldfield's silk velvet dress in the exhibition was worn in 1985 at a gala performance of Les Misérables in London.

While celebrated eccentric Zandra Rhodes created a silk chiffon design trimmed with glass beads, pearls and sequins, from 1987.

Profits from the exhibition, expected to reach £150,000 ($250,000), will go to charity - half to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and half to improving facilities for visitors to Kensington Palace.

Ms Rorech-Dunkel says that the aim of the show is to be true to the spirit of the princess.

"I wanted to share them with the public, and in doing so raise money for charity. I wanted to honour Diana's humanitarian aim in auctioning the dresses."

Diana, Princess of Wales - A Collection of Her Dresses runs from 1 October to 31 March at Kensington Palace State Apartments.

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Internet Links

The Monarchy Website: Diana, Princess of Wales
BBC News Online's Diana Tribute Site
The Historic Royal Palaces

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