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PARIS – Princess Diana returned to Paris in wax on Thursday, as one of Europe’s oldest wax museums unveiled a new figure of the British royal in a so-called “avenger dress,” decades after her tragic death in the city.
The statue was ordered in Paris after Grevin, the museum’s director, visited London and was inspired by Diana’s likeness at Madame Tussauds to commission his own version, museum officials said.
Grevin’s life-size – and very convincing – image of the late Princess of Wales is dressed in a replica of the black, off-the-shoulder, figure-hugging cocktail dress Diana wore to a Serpentine Gallery event in London in 1994. It was the same night that King Charles III – then Prince Charles – admitted on television that he had been unfaithful to Camilla Parker Bowles, now Queen Camilla.
For Paris, the tribute takes on added significance: Diana – “Lady Di” to the French, who still use the nickname affectionately, even though she spent most of her public life as a princess – died in 1997 after a car crash in a tunnel near the Seine, a death that helped immortalise her in the imagination of Paris, where she is still present in the flowers and handwritten notes left at unofficial monuments.
Museum officials noted that the unveiling came on the 30th anniversary of an explosive interview Diana gave to BBC “Panorama,” which observers say damaged the monarchy and the queen’s image.
Some observers commented sarcastically how the museum’s latest royal guest was a far cry from the wax likeness of her famous ex-husband and mother-in-law.
High heel shoes, a pearl choker around the neck and a small handbag in both hands completed this idol. Tabloids later dubbed the dress a “revenge dress” and the museum leaned into that symbolism.
French novelist Christine Orban, who wrote “Mademoiselle Spenser”, a novel imagined from Diana’s point of view, said the figure is a late addition.
She described the black dress as a turning point in Diana’s story.
He said, “This dress is very important for her liberation because in the royal family, black is only worn for funerals, and then for the Princess of Wales to have such a sexy dress, it’s not even common.” “So she decided to wear her heels and Louboutins. And to make an impression, decided to go to the Serpentine Gallery to be photographed.”
Founded in the 19th century, Grevin has long filled its ornate halls with political leaders, artists, pop-culture celebrities – and, yes, British royalty. Diana is the latest in a steady stream of star wattage additions used by the museum to refresh the collection and boost visitors to the site, which has attracted some 700,000 annual visitors in recent years.
News of the unveiling spread throughout Paris before most people had a chance to get there.
“It brought it back to that night in the tunnel, even though I was a kid then,” said Julian Martin, 38. “Paris never completely let go of Diana, so it made sense that a large wax museum finally did.”
“I wasn’t even alive then, but to my generation, she seems like the first modern princess – glamorous, but also vulnerable,” said Lina Ben Amr, a 24-year-old student. “If tourists come to see celebrities in wax figures, he’s one of the first ones they see.”
Diana will be in good company. The curator placed her next to another prominent royal figure who had died in Paris – albeit centuries earlier: Marie Antoinette.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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