The Grévin Museum in Paris has chosen to unveil a new wax figure of Princess Diana, generating intense interest due to the outfit that recalls one of the most iconic moments of her life. Diana is depicted wearing the famous “revenge dress,” which she wore in 1994 on the evening when then-Prince Charles publicly admitted his extramarital affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, according to the Associated Press.
Paris: The unveiling and the symbolic revenge dress
The museum, one of Europe’s most historic, positioned the life-size figure wearing the black off-the-shoulder dress that the princess wore to a Serpentine Gallery event in London in 1994. Along with the dress, high heels, a pearl choker, and a small handbag were chosen, the elements that completed her appearance at the time. The tabloids had characterized this particular outfit as a “revenge dress,” a designation that Grévin continues to use today.
🚨 🇫🇷 FLASH : Inauguration de la statue de Lady Diana au Musée Grévin plus de 28 ans après sa tragique disparition à Paris. pic.twitter.com/ENtwcFaZgR
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Museum officials told the Associated Press that the idea for the figure arose after the director’s visit to Madame Tussauds museum in London, where he felt the corresponding figure was unsatisfactory. The unveiling coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of Diana’s explosive BBC “Panorama” interview, which according to analysts had damaged the monarchy’s and the Queen’s image.
Diana, Paris and the memory that never fades
For Paris, the presence of the figure carries special weight, as the princess was killed in a car accident in 1997 in a tunnel near the Seine. Even today, crowds of visitors leave notes and flowers in her memory. Her relationship with Dodi Al Fayed and the crash that cost them their lives has become inextricably linked with the city.
Some observers noted that Diana’s figure was placed at a distance from those of her former husband and former mother-in-law, however the curators positioned her next to another historic royal figure who died in Paris, Marie Antoinette.
French novelist Christine Orban, author of “Mademoiselle Spencer,” said the creation of the figure was overdue and characterized this particular dress as a pivotal moment in Diana’s journey. “The dress is very important for her liberation, because in the royal family, black is worn only for funerals, and then such a sexy dress for a Princess of Wales, well, that’s not usual either,” she said. “So she decides to wear her high heels and her Louboutins. And to go to the Serpentine Gallery to make an impression, to be photographed.”
🚨 PRINCESS DIANA HONORED AT PARIS WAX MUSEUM IN ICONIC ‘REVENGE DRESS’
The Grevin waxwork museum in Paris has unveiled a new figure of Princess Diana, dressed in the famous “revenge dress” she wore in 1994 after Prince Charles admitted to infidelity. The black off-the-shoulder… pic.twitter.com/4pfMhUVgRK
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The Grévin, which has been operating since the 19th century, hosts political leaders, artists and pop culture personalities, and continues to renew its collection, attracting approximately 700,000 visitors annually.
The public response was immediate, with hundreds of people gathering to see the new figure up close. “It brought back that night in the tunnel for me, even though I was a child then,” said 38-year-old Julien Martin. “Paris never completely let go of Diana, so it made sense that a major wax museum would finally do this.”
“I wasn’t even alive, but for my generation, she seems like the first modern princess, glamorous but also vulnerable,” said 24-year-old student Lina Ben Amar. “If tourists come to see celebrities in wax figures, she’s one of the first they’ll look for.”
