Palumbo later recalled that Diana 'bounded out of the car in that wonderfully athletic way that she had'. The photographer who captured Diana arriving at the event, Tim Graham, said that her arrival lasted only 30 seconds in total, and that Diana would have known a large number of photographers would be present following her husband's revelations. ĭiana was seen wearing the dress after she exited her car and was greeted by Lord Palumbo, the chair of the trustees of the Serpentine Gallery, before entering the gallery. Diana's biographer Sarah Bradford wrote that Diana 'feigned indifference' in regards to the programme. Charles and Diana had separated two years prior to the broadcast of the programme. The dinner was held on the night that a television programme about her husband King Charles III was broadcast, in which he admitted to having been unfaithful to her after their marriage had 'irretrievably broken down'. Diana had declined the dinner invitation however, two days prior to the dinner, following several days' publicity of Charles' infidelity revelations, she accepted the invitation. The event to which the dress was worn was a 29 June 1994 fundraising dinner hosted by Vanity Fair magazine for the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. Anna Harvey, Diana's former stylist, said that Diana 'wanted to look a million dollars. Diana had planned to wear a dress by Valentino before choosing Stambolian's design. She was clearly angry.' Diana had owned the dress for three years before she wore it, fearing it was 'too daring'. Stambolian compared Diana's choice of black to the black swan Odile in Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, saying that Diana 'chose not to play the scene like Odette, innocent in white. The dress, an off the shoulder black silk evening gown, was designed by Christina Stambolian.

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