Rare Andy Warhol Paintings of Princess Diana and Prince Charles Could Fetch More Than $2 Million at Auction

Andy Warhol created many a pop artwork portrait in his day, along with his iconic brightly coloured items that includes stars like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis. And though his portray of Queen Elizabeth II could be probably the most well-known by way of Warhol’s royal items, he additionally immortalized a younger Princess Diana and Prince Charles (now King Charles III) again in 1982.

Now each of those work, titled “Portrait of Princess Diana” and “Portrait of Prince Charles,” are hitting the public sale block in London on Thursday, Oct. 10—they usually might herald some severe money.

In keeping with Phillips auction house, the “putting depictions of the younger princess and (then) prince are based mostly on Lord Snowdon’s official engagement {photograph} of the couple” and had been created a 12 months after the then-Prince and Princess of Wales’s 1981 wedding ceremony.

Diana’s portray is predicted to herald between £1.2 to £1.8 million (roughly $1.6 to $2.4 million), whereas the portrait of Charles is estimated at £1 to £1.5 million, or an informal $1.3 to $1.9 million.

In actual life, Diana wore an emerald inexperienced robe with very Nineteen Eighties puffed sleeves and bow trim for her official engagement portrait, snapped by Princess Margaret’s ex-husband and celebrated photographer, Lord Snowdon. Warhol depicted the princess in additional of a teal shade with the turquoise background matching her colourful blue-and-red hair.

Within the portray (and the {photograph} it was based mostly on) she wears a pair of dazzling diamond chandelier earrings and an identical necklace loaned to the bride-to-be by Collingwood jewelers.

Whereas Warhol selected to color Diana in a extra monochromatic scheme, Prince Charles pops off the canvas along with his black army uniform contrasting in opposition to a vibrant blue background.

This is not the primary time a Princess Diana-themed public sale has introduced in tens of millions. In December 2023, a moderately ’80s drop-waisted black-and-purple frock worn by the late princess bought for a record-breaking $1.1 million. The wildest a part of the sale was simply how a lot Julien’s Auctions underestimated the value, with the public sale home saying that the Jacques Azagury fashion was initially estimated at a mere $100,000.

A pink shirt worn by the royal in one in every of her engagement portraits additionally broke information, promoting for $381,000 as a substitute of its $80,000 estimate.

Preserving that in thoughts, who is aware of how a lot these Warhol originals will go for, however I’ll sadly need to bow out of this royal bidding motion.