Princess Diana she loved sweaters and had many in her collection, but one stood out. The iconic black sheep sweater, which is to be auctioned by Sotheby’s this autumn, was first worn by Lady Di at a polo match attended by her fiance, Prince of Wales Charles, in June 1981 .The red sweater is mostly covered in a pattern of white sheep, but there is a lone black sheep on the front which has prompted speculation about a possible hidden message.

The knitwear was one of the first pieces designed by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne for Warm & Wonderful. After Lady Di’s first outing with the sweater, the brand became world famous and attracted other big names such as Andy Warhol and David Bowie.

A few weeks after the princess wore the knitwear, its makers received an official letter from Buckingham Palace saying that Diana had ruined her “much-loved sheep sweater” and it needed to be either repaired or replaced. The duo knitted a new one for the late princess and the original had been missing for decades.

Last March, the duo were looking for an old pattern in an attic and discovered Diana’s original sweater in a small box. “Hidden next to a cotton bedspread was Diana’s original red sheep sweater from 1981,” said Muri and Osborne. “Now, nearly four decades later, this one-of-a-kind sweater is ready to make its way into the hands of a lucky collector.”

Warm & Wonderful stopped producing the sweater in 1994, but later reissued the design in 2020 through a collaboration with Rowing Blazers’ Jack Carlson. In the same year, a replica was worn by actress Emma Corinne in the fourth season of the television series “The Crown”. There is only one original, however, and it is expected to sell for $50,000 to $80,000 at the upcoming auction.

Online bidding will open on August 31 and close on September 14. The knitwear will also be on display at Sotheby’s in New York from September 7.