PARIS \u2014 Princess Diana<\/a> returned to Paris in wax Thursday as one of Europe\u2019s oldest wax museums unveiled a new figure of the British royal in the so-called \u201crevenge dress,\u201d decades after her tragic death in the city.<\/p>\n The statue was ordered in Paris after the director of the Grevin Museum visited London and came away underwhelmed by the Diana likeness at Madame Tussauds, prompting him to commission his own version, museum officials said.<\/p>\n Grevin\u2019s life-size \u2014 and very convincing \u2014 figure of the late Princess of Wales is dressed in a replica of the black, off-the-shoulder, figure-hugging cocktail dress<\/a> Diana wore to a Serpentine Gallery event in London in 1994. It was the same night that King Charles III \u2014 at the time Prince Charles<\/a> \u2014 acknowledged on television that he had been unfaithful with Camilla Parker Bowles<\/a>, now Queen Camilla.<\/p>\n For Paris, the tribute carried extra weight: Diana \u2014 \u201cLady Di\u201d to the French, who still use the nickname affectionately even though she spent most of her public life as a princess \u2014 died after a car crash<\/a> in a tunnel by the Seine in 1997, a death that helped immortalize her in the Parisian imagination, where she still remains present in the flowers and handwritten notes left at informal memorials.<\/p>\n Museum officials noted that the unveiling came on the 30th anniversary of an explosive interview that Diana gave to BBC \u201cPanorama,\u201d which observers say dented the standing of the monarchy and the Queen.<\/p>\n Some observers noted wryly how the museum\u2019s newest royal guest was positioned far from wax likenesses of her famous ex-husband and mother-in-law.<\/p>\n High heels, a pearl choker at her neck and a small handbag clasped in both hands completed the sculpture. Tabloids later dubbed the outfit the \u201crevenge dress,\u201d and the museum leaned into that symbolism.<\/p>\n French novelist Christine Orban, who wrote \u201cMademoiselle Spencer,\u201d a novel imagined from Diana\u2019s point of view, said the figure was overdue.<\/p>\n She called the black dress a turning point in Diana\u2019s story<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dress is very significant of her liberation because in the royal family, black is only worn for funerals, and then such a sexy dress for a Princess of Wales, well, that\u2019s not common either,\u201d she said. \u201cSo she decides to wear her high heels and Louboutins. And to go to the Serpentine Gallery to make an impression, to get photographed.\u201d<\/p>\n Grevin, founded in the 19th century, has long packed its ornate halls with political leaders, artists, pop-culture figures \u2014 and, yes, British royals. Diana is the latest in a steady stream of star wattage additions the museum uses to refresh the collection and boost visitors at the site that has attracted some 700,000 annual visitors in recent years.<\/p>\n News of the unveiling filtered through Paris, even before most people had a chance to visit.<\/p>\n \u201cIt brought back that night in the tunnel, even though I was a kid then,\u201d said Julien Martin, 38. \u201cParis never completely let go of Diana, so it made sense that a big wax museum finally did this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t even alive but for my generation, she seems like the first modern princess \u2014 glamorous, but also vulnerable,\u201d said 24-year-old student Lina Ben Amar. \u201cIf tourists come to see celebrities in wax, she is one of the first they will look for.\u201d<\/p>\n Diana will be in good company. Curators set her beside another prominent royal who died in Paris \u2014 albeit centuries earlier: Marie Antoinette.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.syracuse.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PARIS \u2014 Princess Diana returned to Paris in wax Thursday as one of Europe\u2019s oldest wax museums unveiled a new figure of the British royal in the so-called \u201crevenge dress,\u201d decades after her tragic death in the city. The statue was ordered in Paris after the director of the Grevin Museum visited London and came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[372564,345954,417895,417896,28766,408479,417897,417898,24214,371102],"class_list":["post-2173392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-british","tag-clothing","tag-colour","tag-d960a3","tag-english","tag-female","tag-huty-16059","tag-huty16059149","tag-royalty","tag-vertical"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2173392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2173394,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173392\/revisions\/2173394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2173392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2173392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2173392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"France](\"https:\/\/www.syracuse.com\/resizer\/v2\/BYZLCJ7EDFFQNLFRODNNLYNVYY.jpg?auth=dc8253335d55bd86ba35aa64af1a7275a010a5fbeed702814c5884a3fd97ba1a&width=1280&smart=true&quality=90\")