Kate Middleton's transparent dress auctioned at $126,000

Earlier expected to fetch up to £10,000 ($16,000), the famous see-through dress of Prince William's wife-to-be Kate Middleton was bought at £78,000 ($126,000) in a London auction.

The knitted lace dress was worn by Kate Middleton during a charity fashion show at Saint Andrew's University in Scotland in 2002. According to reports, Prince William first noticed Middleton when she wore the dress during the event.

The transparent black dress was designed by Charlotte Todd, who was a student in 2000 at the University of the West of England taking up fashion and textile design when she produced the garment for a project entitled "The Art of Seduction".

“There’s world fascination in anything to do with Kate Middleton at the moment,” says auctioneer Kerry Taylor in an interview with Bloomberg.