"Daring Di"

THE DRESS credited with turning a shy Diana Spencer in to a worldwide fashion phenomenon is set to go under the hammer. The black dress, by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, was worn by a 19-year-old Diana to her first official appearance after her engagement to Prince Charles - and earned her the tabloid nickname "Daring Di" for its low neckline and bare shoulders.

"The transformation was incredible," Elizabeth Emanuel told the Daily Mail. "She arrived [to try it on] looking like the nursery school teacher she was, but now she looked like a movie star. We hadn't considered the fact that when Diana bent over - as she would have to when getting out of the car - she would show quite a lot of cleavage. We just thought she looked fabulous."

Diana returned the dress to its creators to be altered after she lost weight but the Emanuels decided, due to the dramatic nature of the changes required, it would be easier to make her a new one in a smaller size and placed the original in storage.

The sale will also include the oyster pink chiffon Emanuel blouse which she wore for her engagement portrait with Lord Snowdon, original designs and toiles for her bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses, the layered tulle petticoat she wore for fittings and wedding rehearsals at St Paul's Cathedral, a duplicate sequined veil and a photographic record of the making of the bridal gown. The collection ends with designs for Princess Diana's official tours to Venice 1984 and the Middle East in 1986.