Last year, Kim Kardashian famously wore an iconic dress created for Marilyn Monroe to the Met Gala and incurred backlash for reportedly having damaged the item, which was returned with threads stretched and beads missing. And now, the reality star has picked up a bauble previously worn by Princess Diana.
At a recent Sotheby's auction, Kardashian's rep purchased the Attalah Cross, an amethyst pendant made by the Garrard jewellery company for Naim Attallah, CBE. Per a press release given to Page Six, the item is one-of-a-kind and was lent to Diana—the only person to ever wear it—on multiple occasions. She famously wore it on her own string of pearls at a charity event in London in 1987, and while it looks like the epitome of gaudy ’80s excess, it was apparently designed in 1920!
The Skims founder paid $197,453 (over £160,000), apparently twice what the auction house expected it to fetch. “We are delighted that this piece has found a new lease of life within the hands of another globally famous name,” Kristian Spofforth, the head of jewellery at Sotheby’s London, shared in a statement obtained by Page Six. The auction is the piece's first appearance in public since Diana's death
This isn't the first time Kim Kardashian's dropped serious bucks to own another woman's accessory. In 2017 she shelled out $379,500 (£307,000) for a Cartier wristwatch given to Jackie O by her brother-in-law Prince Radziwill, per TMZ. The same outlet reports she's picked up items from the estate of Elizabeth Taylor, though sources didn't specify what.
News of the purchase was met with a resounding “meh” on Twitter, where one user accused the would-be lawyer of “collecting horcruxes.”
X content
One user replied to a news outlet posting the story, saying: “Just another piece of history bought up by the Kardashians, never to be enjoyed by the public again," while another added: “Tbh I think she does this for ritual purposes- invoking energy of people she wants to be seen as. First Marilyn, now Princess Diana. Why else would you want their possessions?”
It all raises the question: What next for Kim Kardashian? The tiara Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany's? Grace Kelly's wedding ring? The original Birkin? The scarf that strangled Isadora Duncan?! The woman will not stop until she owns every culturally relevant accessory.
Article originally published on GLAMOUR US.
