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Princess Diana’s “Revenge Dress” — the off-the-shoulder black chiffon that instantly rewrote royal fashion rules in 1994 — has officially entered museum history.
On Nov. 20, Paris’ Grévin Museum unveiled a new wax figure of the late Princess of Wales wearing a replica of the look, timed deliberately to the 30th anniversary of her BBC Panorama interview. The museum confirmed the date was chosen because Diana “spoke openly and sincerely about her personal life” in that broadcast, including her now-famous line: “We were three in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
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The statue recreates her Serpentine Gallery appearance down to the pearl choker, black clutch, pantyhose, and pumps she wore the same night then-Prince Charles publicly admitted to infidelity. Sculptor Laurent Mallamaci spent months refining the likeness, and Grévin said its team aimed “to reproduce her outfit identically and to capture her unique expression as closely as possible.” The subtle over-the-shoulder smile — one Diana deployed often — was intentional.
Princess , Diana wore this stunning black dress from Christina Stambolian after the news of Charles’ infidelity became public knowledge in July 1994.
Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage.
For Paris, the installation carries a different weight. As the Associated Press reported, Grévin commissioned the figure after its director visited London and was “underwhelmed” by Madame Tussauds’ Diana. In the city where she died in a 1997 car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, the tribute resonated even before the museum opened its doors. “It brought back that night in the tunnel, even though I was a kid then,” Julien Martin, 38, told the outlet, adding that “Paris never completely let go of Diana.”
The timing also coincides with the publication of Dianarama, a new biography by Andy Webb exploring how the deception behind the Panorama interview shaped her final years. That interview was later found to have been obtained through “deceitful methods,” per the 2021 official inquiry, and publicly denounced by Prince William, Prince Harry, and Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer.
And yet — even with the historical context — many people reacted first to what the dress has always symbolized. Online commenters immediately resurfaced the cultural charge of that night. “The only thing more iconic than that dress is the 30-year delay!” one person wrote. Another noted the museum’s choice to display Diana away from waxworks of Charles and the late Queen, calling it “a deliberate, powerful statement,” adding: “They didn’t choose the wedding gown or the quiet charity look. They chose the LIBERATION.”
A few commenters weren’t entirely satisfied with the wax likeness itself, pointing out differences in the smile or posture. But even those critiques circled back to the same point: the meaning of the revenge dress — its timing, its defiance, its clarity — is what remains untouchable. As one person wrote, “The best revenge dress ever… although she didn’t need revenge, she was effortlessly beautiful anyway.”
Others pointed to the color’s significance within royal tradition. “When you realize the royal family saves black for funerals. Her marriage died right then,” one user shared. And for others, the symbolism was simply enduring: “Beautiful dress and a very beautiful woman! Long live Diana and her legacy.”
Those reactions mirror what historians have long highlighted about the Christina Stambolian design — including Claudia Joseph’s reporting that Diana once considered ordering it in white — and how the 1994 appearance overtook Prince Charles’ televised confession. Three decades later, the dress remains a shorthand for independence, control, and a new chapter Diana defined on her own terms. Now, standing under Grévin’s dome beside figures like Beyoncé and Marie Antoinette, that message is officially museum history.
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Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity “revenge dresses” that will go down in history 
