Princess Diana exhibition opens at the Reagan Library in California
A Princess Diana exhibition featuring 740 items that have never been seen before opened to the public at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on November 7, 2026.
The show is called "Diana: Love Life Legacy – A Life of Giving." HELLO! describes it as the largest Princess Diana exhibition ever staged. It covers 10,000 square feet, and the magazine reports that most exhibitions at the library feature no more than 200 items.
One of the main draws is a pairing of two gowns. Diana's midnight-blue velvet dress by the designer Victor Edelstein, known as the "Travolta Dress," is shown beside First Lady Nancy Reagan's white gown, which is covered in diamond-like embellishment and was made by James Galanos. According to HELLO!, it is the first time the two have been displayed together in 41 years. Diana wore the Travolta Dress on November 9, 1985, when she danced with the actor John Travolta at a state dinner at the White House.
The collection was built over a long search. Renae Plant spent a decade attending auctions around the world to bring together thousands of Diana's belongings, HELLO! reports.
Visitors are greeted by the first item in the display: a floral dress by the British label Bellville Sassoon, known as the "Caring Dress." Diana wore it at a charity polo match at Guards Polo Club in June 1988, a match sponsored by HELLO!. The exhibition also includes a lost tribute song by the American rock band Journey.
The exhibit runs from November 7, 2026, to May 31, 2027, according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which also runs an online exhibit. That virtual display, "Dinner and Dancing with Prince Charles and Princess Diana," was first created in November 2020. The library updated it in November 2026 with more archival material.
Diana's 1985 visit to the United States is the link between the Simi Valley show and the White House dinner. The gowns on display, and the dance they recall, are now on view in California for the next six months.
