Dateline: 08/31/98

Today marks the sad anniversary of England's Princess Diana's untimely death. Two upcoming New England events will give Diana's American fans an opportunity to remember again the style and grace that made her the "People's Princess."

Beginning November 1 and running through January 17, "Dresses for Humanity, an Exhibition of the Dresses of the Princess of Wales" makes its only New England stop at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts.


The exhibit, part of an international fund-raising tour for Diana's charities, features 20 designer dresses and photographs of Diana wearing them. Tickets for the exhibit include general admission to the museum and free parking. They are $10.00 for adults, and $8.00 for students, seniors, and group tours. Children under the age of 12 are admitted free. For more information, call (978) 441-0400.

On December 15, Skinner, one of New England's foremost auction galleries and the fourth largest auction gallery in the nation, will auction two gowns owned by Princess Diana. The Boston event will support Pine Street Inn and Saint Francis House, two organizations which provide shelter to Boston's homeless men, women and children.

The gowns, both acquired at the 1997 Christie's auction of Diana's dresses, were donated by a Boston-area businessman and a Boston-area boutique owner for the fundraiser. One dress is a burgundy velvet ball gown by Catherine Walker which Diana wore at the French Embassy in 1989.

The other, also a Catherine Walker, is a long dinner dress of bottle green silk velvet, ordered for formal dinners at Balmoral, Sandringham, and Windsor.

For information on attending the auction event, call (978) 779-6241.