Princess Diana Exhibit at Crystals Hit With Lawsuit, That’s Just the Beginning
There’s some bigass drama unfolding at The Shops at Crystals, and it involves Princess Diana’s wedding dress, the Louvre, the Vatican and a growing collection of lawsuits.
For starters, on Nov. 2, 2026, fashion designer Elizabeth Emanuel filed a federal lawsuit in Las Vegas against five companies involved with “Princess Diana & The Royals: The Exhibition,” an attraction at Crystals.
This news flew under the radar in Las Vegas, possibly because we lack real journalism. There’s also the fact this story is somewhat boring. We went down the rabbit hole, anyway. Slow news day.
Anyhoo, Emanuel is best known for co-designing Princess Diana’s iconic wedding dress for her 1981 marriage to Prince Charles.
In retrospect, we all want to sort of yell “DON’T DO IT, DIANA!” But they got married. It was a big deal at the time.
The lawsuit alleges the exhibit features an unauthorized, life-size paper replica of Diana’s wedding dress, along with reproductions of other designs and sketches created by Emanuel. You can see photos of the exhibit here. It seems like mostly clothes.
According to the complaint, reps of the exhibition approached Emanuel about obtaining permission to reproduce her work. Negotiations followed, but the parties never reached an agreement. Emanuel says the organizers commissioned an artist, Isabelle de Borchgrave, to recreate the dress anyway.
The allegation isn’t that this was an oopsie where someone copied a famous dress without realizing permission to do so might be required. Emanuel claims the attraction’s producers knew her position, tried to negotiate a license and barreled ahead without having one.
Emanuel alleges copyright infringement, deceptive trade practices and unauthorized commercial use of her name. She’s seeking damages and court orders addressing the allegedly infringing materials.
One of the companies named in the lawsuit, SEE Global Entertainment, is associated with Martin Biallas, a longtime producer of traveling exhibitions.
Biallas and SEE have been involved with attractions involving historical figures, famous artworks and other well-known intellectual property.
In April 2026, SBX Group and SEE opened another attraction at Crystals, “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition.” The attraction uses reproductions of Michelangelo’s famous frescoes, allowing visitors to see details normally viewed from the floor of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City.
We have personally visited the real life Sistine Chapel and laid down for several hours looking at the ceiling. We’re pretty sure they’ll arrest you for that now. We recommend you take a virtual tour.
Anyway, the exhibition opened at Crystals on April 24, 2026. Then it gets awkward. The Vatican says it never authorized it. On Nov. 5, 2026, the Governorate of Vatican City State published a statement addressing “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Exhibition.” The statement specifically identifies Martin Biallas and Special Entertainment Events, or SEE, as the organizers.
According to the Vatican, the exhibition was not approved, endorsed or supported by the Vatican Museums. The statement cites Vatican law governing the reproduction and commercial exploitation of its cultural property. You can read the statement here.
The Vatican kerfuffle raises some interesting questions. It’s worth noting the Vatican isn’t the first organization to challenge SEE’s use of a famous name.
In December 2022, the Louvre museum in Paris sued SEE Global Attractions and SEE Global Entertainment over an exhibition called “Louvre Fantastique.”
The museum alleged the companies were improperly exploiting the Louvre’s reputation and intellectual property. The lawsuit involved the use of the museum’s identity in promoting the exhibition, raising questions about whether consumers might mistakenly believe the attraction had an official relationship with the Louvre. The dispute was settled with SEE Global Attractions withdrawing its application to register “SEE’s Louvre Fantastique” as a trademark. You can read the Louvre’s complaint here (.pdf).
But wait, there’s more.
The IP disputes aren’t the only litigation involving Biallas.
Biallas has also faced lawsuits involving cash advances to his businesses. In July 2025, New York-based Alo Capital Group sued Biallas and seven related companies in a commercial contract dispute. A second lender filed suit in 2026. Both lawsuits reportedly name Biallas in connection with personal guarantees, potentially exposing him to liability for the companies’ debts.
In January 2026, Eventbrite sued Biallas and SEE over a $500,000 advance provided under a December 2024 ticketing agreement. Eventbrite alleges SEE Global accepted the money in exchange for exclusively selling tickets through its platform, but failed to list a single event. In court filings, Eventbrite accused Biallas of having “absconded with the $500,000 advance.” The defendants subsequently challenged whether they had been properly served with the lawsuit, but a judge rejected their attempt to set aside defaults entered against them, describing Biallas’ declarations as “carefully worded and evasive.”
There’s also an older legal tussle involving iHeartMedia and several SEE-related companies. In 2021, iHeartMedia filed a lawsuit in L.A. Superior Court over an alleged unpaid advertising balance. The dispute involved a payment agreement for about $30,481.
All this to say there seems to be a pattern, one that hasn’t been reported, despite it involving Las Vegas attractions we will never visit because they’re more boring than paint drying.
But that’s not the point.
Attractions built around recognizable names and famous artworks are tricky stuff. The Diana lawsuit presents questions about copyright ownership, permission and the commercial use of a designer’s name. The Louvre dispute involved the use of a major cultural institution’s identity. The Vatican controversy adds another layer, with officials publicly challenging the authorization of images featured in an exhibition using the Sistine Chapel name.
This isn’t a one-off.
Lawsuits alone aren’t proof of wrongdoing. But in the case of the Vatican, it’s the fricking Vatican. They know shady behavior when they see it!
Now you know.
Will these legal dustups impact your ticket-buying decisions?
Ain’t no drama like Diana wedding dress drama.
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