Princess Diana's iconic Travolta gown to headline major new exhibition

Princess Diana’s most memorable style moments, personal treasures and handwritten letters will go on public display this autumn in a major new exhibition celebrating the life and legacy of the late Princess of Wales.

Princess Diana: Love Life Legacy A Life of Giving will open on November 7 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Washington, D.C., where it will remain until May 2027.

The exhibition will bring together more than 700 items charting Diana’s extraordinary life, from her childhood and royal years to her humanitarian work and untimely death.

The collection includes glamorous gowns, correspondence, childhood keepsakes and other deeply personal pieces belonging to Diana.

It marks the first time much of collector Renae Plant’s extensive archive will be accessible to the public, having previously been housed primarily within her virtual Princess Diana Museum.

For Plant, bringing the collection into a physical exhibition has been a long-held ambition.

“It’s been my dream for it to be seen in public so people can see her life and legacy up close,” she told People.

At the centre of the exhibition will be the legendary Victor Edelstein black velvet gown Diana wore when she famously danced with John Travolta at a White House state dinner in 1985.

The dress, now owned by Historic Royal Palaces after being acquired in 2019, will be displayed alongside the beaded white gown worn by former First Lady Nancy Reagan on the same historic evening.

Bringing the two dresses together is set to recreate one of the most enduring images from the night.

“Seeing the two dresses together, like those two iconic women on the stairs of the White House, will be very exciting,” Plant said.

The exhibition will also explore the story behind Diana’s unexpected dance with Travolta.

According to Melissa Giller, Chief Marketing and Cultural Programming Officer at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, the moment began when a Reagan staffer encouraged the actor to ask President Ronald Reagan to allow him to take over the dance floor with Diana.

When Travolta and Diana began dancing, the U.S. Marine Band struck up the Bee Gees hit “Stayin’ Alive”, creating a moment that would become one of the most recognisable photographs of Diana’s time in the public eye.

The original sheet music for the song, specially learned by the Marine Band for the occasion, will also be displayed.