For evening gowns, David Sassoon said she thought a scoop neck and empire waist would be flattering, and among his designs with that in mind was this velvet gown. His original sketch for it was in light blue, but Diana requested a darker shade, reportedly so she would have something to wear with the various sapphire jewels she had received as wedding presents. The lace collar and cuffs came from a piece of lace from Queen Victoria, found at Balmoral. As the designer was quoted in Georgina Howell's 'Diana, Her Life In Fashion', "The Duchess of Kent had brought it in for trimming the hem of one of her dresses, and this piece was left over." (page 61)

She wore it in February 1982 when she accompanied Prince Charles to a dinner for the British Film Institute, of which he was patron, (left and below), accessorized with the huge Burmese sapphire brooch that had been a wedding present from the Queen Mother, as well as what was described as a pearl necklace with a center sapphire. She wore it a month later to the state dinner during the offical visit of the Sultan of Oman, with the sapphire necklace that was part of the Saudi wedding gift, along with the Spencer family tiara. That December she wore it again, to a gala concert by the Philarmonic Orchestra in aid of the Elgar Foundation, of which Prince Charles was also patron. again with the Saudi sapphire necklace.(right)