Kim Kardashian gives Princess Diana’s famed cross necklace its first public outing

Kim Kardashian is no stranger to wearing fashion history. In recent years she’s donned pieces belonging to Marilyn Monroe, Janet Jackson and Jackie Kennedy, to name but a few. Her personal archive includes museum-grade treasures such as Elizabeth Taylor’s diamond and jade Lorraine Schwartz bracelet, and in 2022 she even acquired the white fedora worn by Michael Jackson in the 1988 music video for “Smooth Criminal” to complete her daughter North’s Halloween costume.

But on Saturday, at the LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles, Kardashian debuted another cultural artifact — a diamond-lined cross pendant, once a favorite of Princess Diana.

Kardashian bought the piece for £163,800 (around $212,000) in January 2023 during the final five minutes of a Sotheby’s auction. Her red carpet appearance over the weekend marked the first time the necklace has been worn in public since Diana’s death in 1997.

With its diamonds weighing approximately 5.25 carats, the cross measures 5.4 inches by 3.7 inches and was made by Garrard, the British court jewelers, in the early 20th century. It was bought in the 1980s by the late Palestinian-British businessman Naim Attallah, who, according to Sotheby’s, lent the piece to Diana several times – most notably, for a 1987 charity gala in support of Birthright, an organization working to protect human rights during pregnancy and childbirth, where she paired the vivid piece with a matching maroon velvet Catherine Walker gown.

Source : CNN