Princess Diana’s Shoes Worn As A Teenager When She First Met Prince Charles Up For Auction

Princess Diana’s white leather peep toe shoes will be up for auction this week. The pair of Bruno Magli shoes are slingbacks with small heels and are a UK size 5.5. Princess Diana was a size 7 as an adult. It is believed to be worn by the princess at the time when Prince Charles visited her family home for a pheasant shoot—her first time meeting the prince.

The shoes, which will be up for auction, come with a green felt drawstring shoe sack which features Diana’s letter D monogram, in red. According to the Mirror, the peep toes are thought to have been worn by the princess when she was around 16 to 19-years-old. This would be during the time when she worked as a nursery assistant. It is believed that the shoes were left at a friend’s house in London, between 1977 and 1978. Meanwhile, the embroidered monogram on the shoe sack looks similar to the monogram that Princess Diana used for her Kensington Palace letterhead as Princess of Wales.

Her shoes and the sack will go under the hammer with Dominic Winter Auctioneers on Wednesday, June 14. The lot is expected to fetch between £300 and £500.

“We know that these shoes belonged to Princess Diana as a teenager and judging by the shoe size we believe that she would have been about 16,” said Chris Albury, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dominic Winter Auctioneers. “That is about the time she first met Prince Charles when he visited her family home for a pheasant shoot.”

“Some of Diana’s dresses have fetched colossal sums at auction but these smart and practical designer shoes are from a pre-princess time of youthful innocence and carry a modest estimate of £300-500.”

In addition to Princess Diana’s teenage shoes, various notes and letters written by Prince Charles and Princess Diana will also be up for auction. Among these is a candid letter the prince had written after his split from Diana where he was concerned about his lack of popularity.

A letter to the couple’s good friend, interior designer Dudley Poplak will also be auctioned off. In the letter dated December 11, 1992, Prince Charles had thanked the designer saying: “It was so very good of you to write as you did the other day. I was most touched and grateful for the kind things you said. They were greatly heartening and encouraging, I can assure you … At least you understand, which is hugely reassuring and comforting. This comes with warm gratitude and countless good wishes.”

Another note up for auction is Diana discussing meditation and French philosophy, where she had written: “I have been fascinated of the Daily Meditations, as for a couple of years now I’ve followed the French philosopher Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov’s way of thinking.”

Another letter going for auction is Prince Charles’ letter to his friend and landscape consultant, Vernon Russell-Smith. The letter dated November 10, 1988, defends the Prince of Wales’ strong opinions against modern architecture. According to the Daily Mail, the Prince’s stand remains controversial to this day.

“I can’t thank you enough for such a very kind letter. I was enormously touched you should have taken the trouble to write and can only say that what you said is hugely encouraging. I was trying to strike a blow for the “ordinary bloke’s” point of view and hope it will have encouraged some people to pluck up courage to call the experts’ bluff,” the Prince of Wales had written using a Highgrove House letterhead.

Days ago, letters of Prince Charles to then First Lady Nancy Reagan also surfaced, where the prince had described his marriage to Princess Diana as a Greek tragedy. Meanwhile, newly-released tapes recorded by the princess revealed a troubled relationship, already obvious days before their wedding in 1981.

[Featured Image by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images]