Diamond necklace worn by Princess Diana to the ballet just two months before her death goes on sale for £10million 

  • Jewels nicknamed 'Swan Lake Suite' are being auctioned by Ukrainian couple
  • Necklace of 178 diamonds and pearls was last bought for £500,000 in 2010
  • Princess famously wore it at performance at the Royal Albert Hall in June 1997

By Alex Matthews For Mailonline

Published: 03:05 EST, 1 February 2017 | Updated: 03:24 EST, 1 February 2017

The Swan Lake Suite gained celebrated status as the necklace Diana wore on one of her final public engagements

The diamond necklace worn by Princess Diana to the ballet just two months before her death has gone on sale for £10million.

Glittering with diamonds and South Sea pearls, the Swan Lake Suite gained celebrated status as the necklace Diana wore on one of her final public engagements.

The necklace was made with Diana's assistance, and included five of her favourite pearls.

Now the Ukrainian couple who own it, intend to cash in on its status by selling the jewelry for £9.6million.

The iconic necklace was last sold for £500,000 in 2010 but its current owners believe its value has sky rocketed.

The 178 diamonds and pearls have been described by New York auction house Guernsey's, as the 'gift of the century'.

A spokesman for Guernsey's told the Sun: 'Right now they [the owners] are just entertaining offers. I can't cite prices but obviously you're aware of what it sold for previously.

'Markets change and I think the family feel that originally they picked it up for a bit of a song.'

The Swan Lake Suite earned its nickname because Diana was wearing the necklace at a performance of the ballet at the Royal Albert Hall in June 1997.

It was at the show that the Princess was invited by Harrods owner Mohamed Fayed to join his family for a holiday in the South of France, where she then met his son Dodi - which set in train the fatal events of later that summer. 

Diana did not wear the earrings designed to go with the necklace that evening, pairing it with her own set instead because the then Crown Jeweller, Garrard, had not yet finished making the matching earrings in time for the event. 

The Ukrainian couple who owner the necklace of diamonds and pearls now wants to cash in on its status and have set an asking price of £9.6million

She returned the necklace after the gala ballet for the accompanying pearl-and-diamond earrings to be completed, but she died without ever seeing the finished items.

Later, Garrard sold them discreetly to a British businessman who wanted them for his wife. But he put them up for auction in 1999, making what was described as a 'significant' donation to the Diana Memorial Fund from the proceeds. 

Both the necklace and the earrings Garrard subsequently produced have rarely been worn since.  

In 1999, a U.S. collector paid more than £360,000 to buy it, plus a pair of matching earrings.

Later Texan furniture millionaire Jim 'Mattress Mack' McIngvale bought the piece and kept it locked in at his store in Houston, Texas, where he put them on show in order to draw in customers. 


 

 

 

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