Diana's 'Travolta' dress, a £240k surprise for a very lucky wife

It was the dress in which Princess Diana captivated America – and John Travolta.

And this morning the midnight-blue velvet evening gown will be captivating a new owner, whose husband bought it for her as a surprise.

He paid £240,000 for the off-the-shoulder velvet Victor Edelstein dress, which was among ten of the princess’s dresses auctioned yesterday for almost £900,000.

Bidders from Asia, the US, Europe and Australia competed at a London auction house to buy what were described as a ‘slice of history’.

Under the hammer: Bidding begins at Kerry Taylor Auctions in London this afternoon

Memorable: Diana fans David Jones and Margaret Tyler watch the sale unfold

The Princess of Wales dancing with John Travolta at the White House in November 1985

Diana wore the velvet gown to a state dinner at the White House in 1985 where she famously danced with John Travolta.

Auctioneer Kerry Taylor said: ‘It was bought by a British gentleman who has never bought a dress before but he wanted to buy it as a surprise to cheer up his wife. He only called just in time before the auction, and when I told him he’d been successful, he was delighted.

‘His wife loved Princess Diana so when he told her she was over the moon and they had a glass of champagne to celebrate.’

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Two other dresses were bought by representatives from Kensington Palace, which already displays some of Diana’s dresses.

The dresses were originally sold by the Princess herself, just a month before her death in August 1997. Prince William had suggested she auction them to raise money for charity.

US businesswoman Maureen Rorech Dunkel bought the ten dresses as an investment. After Diana’s death, she exhibited them to raise money for charity but then sold them after facing financial problems and on Tuesday they were being auctioned by an anonymous seller.

Fashion history: Potential bidders keep an eye on proceedings in front of a row of Princess Diana's gowns

Tragic: Princess Diana sits alone in front of the Taj Mahal in 1992, five years before her death

The Catherine Walker black velvet and beaded evening gown worn for a Mario Testino shoot for Vanity Fair at Kensington Palace in 1997 (centre)

Another dress by the French-born dressmaker is a burgundy velvet gown with embroidered tailcoat, which was worn during a state visit to Korea in 1992 and to the premiere of Steel Magnolias two years earlier, and made the anonymous seller a £50,400 profit.

A Walker black velvet and beaded evening gown, which Diana was photographed in by Mario Testino for a Vanity Fair photoshoot just a few months before she died, went for £108,000.

It is the only one of the 10 to have been worn after her divorce from Charles. A dress by another of her favourite designers, Bruce Oldfield, also featured and brought in £50,400.

The black velvet evening gown was worn for an official portrait by Lord Snowdon and at the gala opening of Les Miserables in 1985.

In 2010, a black taffeta dress worn by Diana on her first official engagement with her then-fiance Charles in 1981 went for almost four times the estimate of £50,000 when it sold for £192,000.

Tense: An auctioneer looks nervous as she waits to hear whether their client got their dream dress

Tense: A telephone bid is taken by a nervous looking Kerry Taylor employee

WANT A PIECE OF FASHION HISTORY? IT'LL COST YOU!

The 10 lots, which sold for a combined total of £719,000 included:

Victor Edelstein bottle-green velvet evening gown, worn for private entertaining, winter, 1985: £24,000
Zandra Rhodes white chiffon cocktail dress, worn to the Birthright benefit at the London Palladium, May 1987: £48,000
Catherine Walker burgundy velvet sheath with embroidered tailcoat, worn for the State visit to Korea in 1992, and to the premiere of Steel Magnolias, in aid of the Prince's Trust, 7th February 1990: £50,400
Catherine Walker sea-green sequined evening gown, worn for the State visit to Austria in 1989: £90,000
Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown, worn for an official portrait by Lord Snowdon and at the first night gala opening of Les Miserables at the Barbican centre, 10th October, 1985: £50,400
Catherine Walker pink sequined ivory crepe gown with asymmetric neckline, worn at a banquet given by President Collor at the Itamaraty Palace whilst on a State visit to Brazil, 23rd April 1991: £78,000
Catherine Walker black velvet and beaded evening gown, worn for the Vanity Fair photo-shoot by Mario Testino at Kensington Palace, 1997: £108,000
Catherine Walker burgundy crushed velvet evening gown, worn for a State visit to Australia and to the film premiere of Back to the Future, 1985: £108,000
Catherine Walker Mughal-inspired lavishly embroidered pink slubbed silk evening gown and bolero, made for the State visit to India, February 1992: £66,000
Victor Edelstein midnight-blue velvet evening gown worn to the State dinner at the White House given by President and Mrs Reagan, when Princess Diana memorably danced with John Travolta, 9th November, 1985: £240,000