Princess Diana’s original ‘black sheep’ sweater goes to auction for $50K

Have you herd?

The late Princess Diana’s famous sheep sweater is going up for auction at Sotheby’s this summer as a part of their inaugural Fashion Icons sale in New York, after it was discovered in the designer’s attic more than 40 years later.

The sweater, a bright, cherry-red knit adorned with white sheep and one lone black sheep, is estimated to garner between $50,000 to $80,000, according to the auction house.

Diana wore the sweater to one of King Charles’s summer polo matches in June of 1981, shortly after they became engaged when she was just 19-years-old.

The two got married nearly a month later, in July of 1981, but the relationship ended in divorce in 1996.

In August 1997, Diana tragically passed away after a high-speed car crash in Paris.

The sweater was made by designers Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne, creators of the knitwear brand, Warm & Wonderful.

But just a few weeks after Princess Diana wore the knit, the two designers received a letter from Buckingham Palace, which explained that she had “damaged” the “much-loved” sweater, and asked for it to be fixed, or for a replacement.

The two knit her a brand-new sweater, and they received a thank you note from Oliver Everett CVO, who was the monarch’s private secretary.

The Princess wore the brand-new piece again in 1983, pairing it with white jeans and a white collar complete with a dramatic black tie.

And, this past February, the original jumper was rediscovered by the designers, as they were looking for a pattern and stumbled across it.

“I was in the attic in February searching for a pattern, and I just happen to notice this old wine box in a corner — and there was a red sheep jumper wrapped in a cotton bedspread,” Osborne told People.

“It was well preserved, and I had a kind of Groundhog Day moment and thought, ‘Could this be the one?’ I looked at the cuff which had obviously been sewn back on, and I called Sal and said, ‘I think I’ve found the actual real Diana jumper!’”

From there, the two designers called Sotheby’s, and the rest is history.

In the past, some have speculated that the sweater, with one lone black sheep, was meant to resemble how she felt in relation to her “complex relationship with The Royal Family,” per Sotheby’s.

However, the auction house noted that the sheep could have also been a gesture to British agriculture, or simply a reflection of her personality — sheep are often thought of as animals that are kind and gentle, as Diana was often described as having a similar demeanor.

“When she first appeared [in it], she was very much dressed by other people, and I think this was the start of her breaking free and choosing her own pieces,” Muir explained to People about the Princess’ re-wear of the sweater in 1983.

Osbourne agreed, adding that she thinks Diana looked “much more in control” during the second wear.

Online bidding for the sweater will begin on August 31 and run through September 13, during New York Fashion Week.

It will also be displayed in New York starting on September 7.

And, you can even get your own version of the sweater if you can’t stomach the $50,000 bid — in 2020, Warm & Wonderful reissued the design in a collaboration with Jack Carlson and his brand, Rowing Blazers after they stopped producing it in 1994.