A CATALOGUE for a charity auction of dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, is to go under the hammer in Swindon.

The auction took place shortly before her death and a handwritten note by the princess in the catalogue says: "The inspiration for this wonderful sale came from just one person our son, William."

The catalogue is to be sold, at a date to be announced, on behalf of an unnamed private collector by Dominic Winter Book Auctions, in Maxwell Street.

Dominic said: "This is a very interesting and poignant item. It is also one of 250 printed, so it is quite scarce.

"It is part of a collection assembled by a private individual, although we only have this catalogue."

Dominic expects the catalogue to sell for about £2,000.

The auction to which it relates took place at Christie's, in New York, on June 25, 1997, a little over two months before the princess' death in Paris.

Bidders paid a total of £3.2 million for the 79 garments on sale and the proceeds went to cancer and Aids charities across Britain and the United States.

It was less than the £6 million some commentators had expected but, following the princess' death, the value of the clothes skyrocketed, and a number of buyers were unable to resist selling them on at great profit.

The princess is in the news again following the opening of the inquests into her death and that of her lover Dodi Fayed, and the revelation she penned a letter saying she believed somebody was planning to have her assassinated and make it look like a car accident.

The dress lots auctioned in New York were all by British designers and included:

l The dress worn by the princess when she danced with John Travolta during a visit to the White House in 1985.

l A dress she wore during a visit to Thailand in 1988, which received great attention because of its sari-like style.

l A cocktail dress she was rumoured to have been wearing when the Prince of Wales told her of his adultery with Camilla Parker Bowles.

l Various other clothes in a range of styles, worn on occasions as diverse as State visits and social occasions with celebrities.

At the time of the auction Elizabeth Emanuel, who had designed the princess' wedding dress, said: "She's showing the world that clothes are just one part of her life."

In October the Advertiser revealed Swindon man Gavin Young had attempted to sell his £125,000 three-bedroom home in Ash Brake for £1 million because he was including a framed collage featuring fragments of the princess' wedding dress. He advertised the property on internet auction site e-bay.

The dress pieces were originally given to his sister, Kerry, by the dress's designers, David and Elizabeth Emanuel, for whom she was nanny. There were no bids.