This time last year, Princess Diana was the talk of the town in Grand Rapids. The “Diana – A Celebration,” which drew nearly 100,000 visitors to the Grand Rapids Art Museum, has since been seen at a former railroad station followed by a casino and resort. Next up is the Mall of America.
The exhibition with the dress worn by the former Lady Diana Spencer for her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles opens Feb. 4 in the 500-store shopping center near Minneapolis/St. Paul. Tickets go on sale Friday for the exhibition through June 10, 2012 at the popular Minnesota shopping center. Order tickets, $23.50 plus fees, online beginning at 12 noon from Ticketmaster. If you're planning a Christmas shopping trip to the Mall of America this month, you can pick up a special gift package for $75 including two tickets, two audio tours and one copy of the exhibition catalog. But you have to buy that package in person at a Mall of America guest service desk by Dec. 24.
During the show's three-month stay in Grand Rapids from Nov. 9, 2010 to Feb. 16, the exhibition drew 95,770 visitors including the 1 millionth visitor worldwide to see “Diana: A Celebration” since it first was created following her 1997 death after an automobile accident in Paris. Experience Grand Rapids, the local tourism and visitor's bureau, concluded the Princess Diana show generated $3.6 million for the local economy over three months.
“Diana -- A Celebration” opened in March in Kansas City's Union Station, where it enjoyed the extra attention due to the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April The exhibition with 150 items from the life of Princess Diana returned to Althorp House in Great Britain, the Spencer family seat, for the summer and returned to the United States to open in September at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., where it remains until Jan.