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Whether it's rumor or fact that Prince William's eye was originally drawn to Kate Middleton due to the revealing transparent dress she wore at a charity fashion show, the amount it sold for at auction is simply staggering.

An unidentified buyer forked over the princely sum of €78,000 ($125,871) for the see-through dress worn in 2002. Breaking it down, that works out as €65,000 ($104,948) and an additional €13,000 ($20,989) of buyer's premium. "He thinks it's an iconic piece," said an unnamed man who represented the buyer at the auction. "He's very happy." We're sure he is, though it does seem remarkable that some of the late Princess Diana's dresses went for less.

Three to four bidders were competing for the Charlotte Todd-designed dress, which was actually supposed to be a skirt, but Middleton wore it instead as a dress, with black underwear beneath. As for Todd, rather ironically, she didn't end up working in fashion, but at an aquarium.

Not that this seemed to matter to the willing participants at the London auction, who still went fishing, if you will. One of the bidders, Carole Lieberman, the U.S. talk show host and psychiatrist, believes that Middleton's revealing number was proof positive that she was prepared to go the extra mile to snag one of the world's most eligible bachelors.

Lieberman already owns the likes of nightdresses that belonged to Wallis Simpson (the American divorcee who infamously snared King Edward VIII, see The King's Speech for more!) and the reason she wanted the dress was because Middleton was "the quintessential good girl who used bad girl secrets to catch her prince." Better luck next time, Carole, but the secret behind the exorbitant cost of the see-through dress is now out and NewsFeed is unsure whether to laugh or cry at the astronomical amount. (via AP)

• Glen Levy