I will only tell you exactly what I know from having been one of the first few hundred people to buy the porcelain and vinyl Franklin Mint Princess Diana dolls and outfits when The Mint first offered them to the general public. 

  The outfits were, at first, 16" doll-sized reproductions ( for the vinyl dolls; the others for the 18"to 21" porcelains) of the dresses bought by The Franklin Mint and other doll companies at the Christies' Dress Auction in June of 1997. The first few hundred buyers of the "Travolta" dress received a necklace and earrings with real tiny (but real) sapphires as a special "thank you" from The Mint. As an early buyer of "The Princes of Glamour" doll, for example, as well as the Travolta (and other dolls and outfits) the faux pearl necklace I got had a real sapphire in the middle, surrounded by a tiny circle of real diamonds, then later white sapphires before they were made with cubic zirconia.  The later necklaces have larger faux "sapphire" middle stones and faux "diamonds"

   As The Mint began to sell more of these two outfits and dolls, the jewels in the earrings and necklaces was no longer sapphire or diamond, but fine Austrain crystal...still not bad! The Travolta doll came with a vague "replica" (or interpretation) of a necklace and earring set given to Diana by the Sultan of Brunei. In the pictures of Diana wearing this set, including a matching bracelet, it looked to be a sleek omega-type diamond-encrusted necklace with a gorgeous "wave" of sapphires in its middle section. The FM version, especially the one with real sapphires and Austrian crystals, is very nice, but it was not the famous pearl and sapphire choker we expected to see with the "Travolta" dress. The bracelet is lovely, but does not match the necklace and earrings. The earrings look the most like the Real Thing.

   The Princess of Glamour wears the famous faux pearl and (for we lucky few first buyers) real sapphire choker, again surrounded by teeny-tiny diamonds. Then, faux pearls and crystal "sapphire and diamonds" were used in the rest of this vinyl doll's jewelry.

   The porcelain "Elvis" dress doll wears the pearl choker with the large center sapphire surrounded by crystals, along with one of the largest of the replica Queen Mary tiaras. (They have gotten smaller on other Diana dolls oferred later, such as the Diana sitting on a cushion.) The Spencer tiaras have remained roughly the same size, but do vary with the particular outfit and doll company  involved. The Franklin Mint really has the best replicas of these two famous tiaras which Diana wore.

  The way to tell if you own a necklace with real sapphires is fairly simple: Just look at the silver back of the circle. If the letters "FM" and the numbers "925" are there, you've got a sterling silver necklace with real sapphires. If the backing says "FM" and "China" on it, then the stones are not real gems, but beautiful crystals, which are nice, but...Hey! They're still unique to The Princess!

    The original documentation, if you have it, will tell you what you have. If you buy second-hand, the documentation may be original, but the doll may not. Look ON THE DOLL's side for a true Limited Edition number. If it IS a true Limited Edition, it will have the name of the doll as well as a number, printed on the doll's side: Eg: Diana, Princess of Grandeur, "335/5,000" What that number means is that you have the 335th doll produced by The Mint out of the total of 5,000 made in that edition.

    Others can tell you how many dolls were made in the editions done by several mints and doll companies. I personally think that The Franklin Mint did the overall best job of depicting the Dresses and jewels worn by Princess Diana. But The Danbury Mint's original Diana doll has her wearing the dress she wore when on tour with Prince Charles in Austrailia when he zoomed her across the dancefloor and she wore her emerald and diamond tiara as a headband. The Danbury Mint also lovingly reproduced the Royal Ribbon worn depicting a lovely and detailed tiny image of Queen Elizabeth II on it. That ribbon and image of The Queen are very true to life.

    Ashton Drake also did a series of taller Princess Diana dolls, but the faces, I think, were less attractive than those done by The Franklin Mint. That is, of course, only my personal taste, but I have taken several of the Ashton Drake's SPECTACULAR Princess Diana doll GOWNS and re-dressed some of the Franklin Mint porcelain (and some of the vinyl) dolls in Ashton Drake gowns to create gorgeous re-dressed dolls wearing their clothing. The FM porcelain Diana dolls are slightly larger than their vinyl ones, and some of these porcelain versions of The Princess look fantastic wearing the Ashton Drake clothing.

    I often re-dress my dolls to represent actual events in Diana's all too short lifetime. These "historically relevant" re-dressed dolls are NOT enjoyed by some "purists" who INSIST on ONLY buying Mint "originals."  That's just fine with me; I do not re-dress my dolls to fit the tastes of everyone; just those who would like a doll wearing dress ensembles which they have not seen done before on their Diana dolls. They are either loved or intensely disliked...I just make SURE to use First Quality clothing (mostly Franklin Mint and Ashton Drake clothing and some Danbury Mint accessories, and sometimes clothing done by expert Ebay seamstresses). I ALWAYS state from where my dolls, clothing and accessories have come, and I never simply re-dress my dolls in ANYTHING which is not of the most EXCELLENT quality or design...and I make sure that everything FITS the dolls I sell, as I am not happy unless those who buy my items are also VERY Happy...I also  NEVER sew any clothing; I leave that to the pros...

   Many people are switching Jackie Kennedy and Diana clothes and even Tonner outfits (and some Gene doll accessories) to re-create scenes from Diana's life...For example, there are some Tonner skits and dresses which fit the FM Dianas, but I myself always state from where everuthing on a doll configuration comes...

    If you are a "purist," then look for an auction where Ltd. Editions are stated and where the dresses are attributed to the right original dolls.  If the seller is not sure, then the doll has probably passed through many owners. This is not a bad thing if the doll and its papers are real and everything is in order, or if you just LIKE the doll! BUT, if you ask the Seller, he or she should tell you if the doll was originally acquired by them and/or if everything that is supposed to be there is there. If they say that they honestly don't know, then look for the hallmarks mentioned above when you get the doll. If the Seller has no idea, then you can ask them to look on the back of the necklaces, or on the sides of the dolls and they should tell you. ALSO Sellers HAVE to tell potential buyers if there are any marks or stains on the doll's body! These marks often are the result of long-term storage of the doll, especially if the doll is wearing dark or red clothing. But other colors do stain vinyl dolls, so ask about this, just to make sure. The Porcelain dolls don't stain nearly as easily, if at all.

    One thing to watch for are COAs. Match them to the dolls. Some people are selling just the COAs, which others are including with their dolls. This is confusing at best, and misleading at worst. It IS nice to have a COA with your doll or dress ensemble. Just check the number (if the doll is a limited edition) printed on the doll's side to see if it is,indeed, a low number. That would best indicate if your doll is, indeed, an early edition, or a Limited Edition

  If  I've probably left-out some salient points, I hope to have at least pointed you in the right direction. At the very least you'll be able to ID some of the jewels, outfits and Limited Editions, as those were some of the major selling points made by the Franklin Mint in their early Diana/Jackie doll-selling days.

    There IS one more thing I  know about the Franklin Mint porcelain dolls. The legs MUST be packed VERY securely or they WILL BREAK. I know that to my cost (three Princesses of Style arrived with broken legs, which was very depressing). The earrings on some of the porcelain dolls (along with the glued-on wigs) can be removed should you get a broken doll and wish to re-dress another Diana doll, using these materials. But some earrings are firmly glued onto the porcelain dolls, so ask your seller to please pack these precious beauties as carefully as possible!

    If you get a porcelain doll with a long-sleeved outfit, check to see if the arms are made of cloth or porcelain under the sleeves. If the arms are made of cloth, they can be safely BENT to add new and more realistic positions for your dolls. And some of the outfits can be changed, but at your own risk, as porelain hands, arms, etc can break. There is one porcelain doll with a lovely face, but whose dress, although part of the Christies' Dress Auction, is not popular. In person it is a gorgeous crepe dress, but it doesn't translate well in the pictures I've seen of it. The face of that doll is very, very beautiful. It has a gentle serenity that many of the other, more "generic" Diana faces lack. So, check-out the doll's face, clothing, etc. to see if you are going to bid on something that is what YOU really want to have.

   Another thing I should mention is that, at first, the dresses that came from those the various doll companies were bought at the Christies' Auction. Then, The Princess Diana Trust, headed by the now reviled "porous rock" Paul Burrell, WASTED MILLIONS of pounds from this fund by suing the doll companies for reproducing the dresses. So millions of the monies donated to The Trust by the Mint, as well as by people the world over who wanted to add even more meaning to Diana's life by giving whatever they could, which were supposed to directly support The Princess' charities, evaporated into thin air. The Trust Fund is now administered by Diana's sister, Lady Sarah, whom Diana always adored. Mr. Burrell, revealed by his own testimony and that of others to have allegedly STOLEN a ring from Princess Diana's lifeless finger whilst "gurading" her remains before her funeral, is now living in Florida. I ask you as a personal favor NOT to support Burrell in any way, as his "information" about The Princesss is totally tainted BY HIS OWN ADMISSION.

    The Trust LOST their lawsuit, because the doll companies rightly owned those dresses and they could do with them what they would, including reproducing them. So now, the dresses you see from The Mint are not only reproductions of the ones they bought at The 1997 auction, but also include others which differ from those at the Auction. The Mints are, in effect, re-dressing Diana dolls themselves at times. Check the documentation, or ad copy to make sure of this. The documentation should tell you which dresses are authentic reproductions of Diana's "real" dresses. Some of the dresses now being sold are very nice and excellent reproductions of later dresses that The Princess actually wore, but which were not included in the 1997 Auction. 

    And some of them are fabrications of the dollmakers' imaginations. IF they look enough like the dresses which Diana actually wore, and the Seller is "up front" about this, and YOU ADORE "the look" because it captures even a whiff of that charisma which was Princess Diana's heart and soul, and which STILL LIVES ON in so many of our hearts the World over, then there should be no problem...as long as you know and are comfortable with what you are buying. I MYSELF re-dress my dolls in some gorgeous dresses this way. It is all OK, as long as the seller tells potential buyers that that is what they are doing, right in the ad copy itself!

    An honest seller will tell you from where the dress came. The Ashton Drake, Danbury and Franklin Mint's reproductions are fairly true to to the originals, as were the Gadco dolls. Some of the smaller Ashton Drake clothing will fit a few of the smaller Diana dolls made in the 1980's and after her death in 1997-1998. These dolls are fine, but no one made the doll's faces look as much like Diana's as The Franklin Mint. So look for old magazines (and newer books) for ACTUAL PICTURES of The Princess wearing a particular dress... if you see a dress that doesn't immediately look like Diana's. The Seller should state what collection the doll's dress comes from, and should be able to answer that question for you. If the Seller doesn't know, then he or she or they, will tell you that too. Sometimes a seller will tell you something which you later find is not strictly true, but which the seller believes to be true. Thus, both  Buyers and Sellers need to do their homework... The dolls and outfits are all gorgeous, but it is nice to know what you are bidding for, if at all possible.

    Some sellers (myself included) do buy from talented Ebay dressmakers to re-dress their dolls. They may be prohibited from mentioning that dressmaker to anyone other than the eventual winner of that doll...But then the Seller should say that the winner will know who made the dress...so they can look for more of their items...

    I have seen other Guides where the Guide Writer actually  recommends specific sellers. But I won't do this for three reasons: First of all, there are new people on ebay every day, so I would have to be constantly searching for them and revising this Guide on a daily basis...  Second of all, some sellers may no longer be on ebay, and I don't want to waste my reader's time. And, third of all, it would be very ELITIST of me to deign to proclaim one seller "better" than others...that would presume that I know ALL sellers, which I DO NOT...

    It is also ILLEAGAL to talk about a seller with whom one has had no actual  dealings...I would have had to had handled their dolls, their clothing, etc., to be a competent judge of their items. That is why I just look under specific categories...and even then, I always ASK the seller about any item in which I have an interest to be as sure as possible if a dress has been re-sewn, or where it came from, etc. Pictures can look good, but I simply asking a seller a question BEFORE bidding  is always safer than taking another's subjective opinion on what a seller is presenting via pictures...
            
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   The original "Auction" dresses which were bought by private collectors were sold and resold in many cases. Many of them are now part of one (and now perhaps a few more of the 1997) buyer's Dresses For Humanity program where the dresses are still viewed in cities across the globe in an ongoing and  hugely successful effort to raise millions to be directly donated to The Fund which supports the charities and causes which were so dear to The Princess' heart.

    I have "followed" the comings and goings of Great Britain's Royal Family for most of my life. I've also had several letters published in Majesty Magazine, the latest one in the August, 2008 issue. This magazine closely reports issues relating to Royals the world over, but focuses most prominently on Great Britain's Royal Family. I have also read many, many books and newspaper and magazine articles about Princess Diana, as well as Prince Charles, Camilla, The Royal Family, Princess Margaret, the Royal Residences, and, of course, Queen Elizabeth II (as well as the Duke and The Duchess of Windsor), etc.. The Family geneology links everyone in it, and it is not often mentioned that Princess Diana and The Queen Mother AND Prince Charles himself share a few common ancestors. BOTH The Queen and her husband can claim Queen Victoria as a common great-great (etc.) Grandmother! In contrast, Princess Diana's bloodline brings a fresh, and much deeper Royal lineage as her gift to her sons and The United Kingdom.

    Princess Diana's heritage goes even further back than that of Prince Charles, a fact which was reported to have annoyed him very much!

    So, I believe I have some real sense of the historical importance of just how deeply Princess Diana cut her own swath across the future of The Monarchy.And in many cases, she used her fashion sense to do this. Her dresses are more than "dresses:" Each one is a Statement, fit for each occasion for which she wore them. She chose her fashions to carefully craft the Image she wished to portray, and the clothes which she wore to other countries almost always carried a theme, denoting her personal honor and respect for each county's traditions and cultures. That is why having miniature representations of her clothing and the jewels she selected to create her ensembles is like owning, not her, but the impact she made upon History...and upon each of US who still love her.

 
  I think that is why having these dolls, wearing really true-to-life replicas of her carefully planned and crafted dress ensembles, is still so meaningful to so many people the world over. A friend of mine in Australia put it so well when she wrote me that she wanted her Diana dolls so that she could tell her little daughter one day that even Today, there still can be REAL Princesses whose work and joy in helping others can still bring joy to our hearts!

    But if you fall in love with a dressed doll which has been re-dressed in an ensemble which looks really fabulous ion her, then the sense of "play" and fun comes into one's consideration...and THAT, too, should be honored and respected as part of The Princess' legacy. Anyone who dictates to you just exactly WHAT and HOW a doll should look may be missing an important aspect of Just Who princess Diana was: A fun-loving, PEOPLE-loving, woman in her Glory who wanted all of those who loved her to enjoy and honor her Life in ways which were so often done more to BREAK The Rules instead of doing things strictly by rote...

    The Mints do NOT "rule" in what ways and just how YOU can present your dolls...Just as long as YOU KNOW and are happy with what you are buying, and you are dealing with an honest seller, you should be able to enjoy this wonderful and fulfilling doll hobby.

  Thus, Princess Diana's Work continues.