Princess Diana’s Revenge Dress Is Coming Back!

For Great Britain, the summer of 1994 was unusually warm. By the end of June, pressure had already begun to build as a result of the hot, bright days and close, sticky nights that had followed. The final week of the month saw a volatile weather pattern and a volatile cultural climate. 

On June 24, a particularly violent thunderstorm struck the southeast of the UK, scattering so much grass pollen that it caused an abrupt and transient asthma outbreak. After years of growing rumors, the British media announced two days later that Prince Charles had unintentionally betrayed his adultery with Princess Diana while watching an ITN program.

The Prince of Wales nodded when asked if he had continued to be faithful to his wife. He said, “Yes, absolutely,” before adding, “until it irretrievably broke down.”

Diana rose from the emotional ruins on June 29, the day the show broadcast to 13 million viewers nationwide, to attend a banquet in a garment so alluring that it has since been known simply as “the revenge dress.”

The party dress, created by Christina Stambolian, was all-black, off-the-shoulder, with a sweetheart neckline and a figure-hugging skirt that ended above the knee. It was unlike anything Diana or any other royal had ever worn in public.

“Diana wanted to look a million dollars,” the princess’ former stylist Anna Harvey said in “Princess Diana’s Dresses: The Auction,” a 2013 Channel 4 documentary. “And she did.”