As you probably know, some of Princess Diana’s clothes are on display this year at Kensington Palace. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the car accident and death of Princess Diana. For this reason many memorial events are taking place, including the recent HBO special titled Diana, Our Mother:  Her Life and Legacy as well as specials on ABC, CBS, and NBC.

I have been looking forward to my sojourn to London to see the exhibit, tour Kensington Palace and get my British fix for this year. Bless my husband’s heart because he has heard this all year. Imagine his delight when we approached the RMS Queen Mary, berthed in Long Beach, and there was a 40-foot sign advertising the current shipboard exhibit of Princess Diana memorabilia!

Although our purpose that day was to tour the boat with the boys, Mike and I made a quick dash through the Princess Di exhibit. Photography was not allowed (although it did not stop a lady touring at the same time), so I don’t have anything to show you specifically from the exhibit other than the signs outside.  You will have to go see it for yourself!

The really neat aspect of this exhibit is that proceeds go to benefit one of the philanthropic endeavors Princess Di supported, breast cancer awareness.  Part of the proceeds will be donated to a local, Long Beach, non-profit working for awareness and prevention of breast cancer.   It seems that one woman has collected most of the items in the exhibit and had the idea of making it a fundraiser in honor of one of the philanthropic areas in which Princess Diana served as a patron .

The display was really well done and included over 2,000 mementos and collectibles of Diana as well as the Royal family. The piece de resistance for me were the clothes. There were 9 dresses purchased in the Christie’s 1995 auction which were on display.  The woman who organized the exhibit owns some of the dresses, while other dresses were on loan.

The displays included as much ephemera of the Royal family as they did items specifically related to Princess Diana.  In addition to the clothes, on display were books and paintings by Charles, Christmas cards signed by various family members, dolls, china, letters, newspaper articles, stools used by ladies in waiting, biscuit tins, etc. It was an extensive display that wound around to many smaller rooms and passage ways.

Sadly, seeing these exhibits did not curb my desire to go to Kensington Palace to see Diana:  Her Fashion Story.

Whether you are a royal watcher or not, Princess Di did try to help the less fortunate and shed light on atrocities. She did this with style and sincerity while trying to blaze a trail for life as a modern, young Royal. I will always find her story (as well as her wardrobe) fascinating.

To learn more about the RMS Queen Mary, click here, and to learn more about Queen Elizabeth’s dress exhibit, click here.