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More than a dozen letters from Diana, Princess of Wales, to her former housekeeper, Collie, were offered. This example, dated September 25, 1984, earned the highest price, at £13,000 ($16,605). The two-page letter thanked Collie for Prince Harry’s first Christmas present and was accompanied by a Christmas card (£800-£1,200).
Review by Kiersten Busch
ESSEX, UK — On July 30, Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers conducted Out of the Ordinary, an almost 500-lot sale offering an eclectic mix of items including taxidermy, pop memorabilia, puppets, photographs, lighting, sculpture and more.
There were more than a dozen letters and cards from Diana, Princess of Wales, to her family’s former housekeeper sold in the sale, totaling £51,850 ($66,230). Leading the group and the sale was a two-page handwritten letter from Diana to “Collie,” dated September 25, 1984. According to a post-auction press release by Sworders, Collie, otherwise known as Violet Collison, “had been the head housekeeper to John Spencer, Viscount Althorp and his wife Frances Ruth Roche at Park House on the Sandringham Estate.” This specific letter sends thanks to Collie for Prince Harry’s first Christmas present. Penned on crowned “D” Kensington Palace notepaper, the letter was also signed by Diana. Additionally, the lot came with a Christmas card and the original envelope. It wrote in at £13,000 ($16,605) and stayed in the UK with its new owner.
Other notable letters to Collie included a double-sided example where Diana thanked the housekeeper for a birthday present she received three weeks before the Royal Wedding, which earned £7,150 ($9,133), and a lot combining Collie’s invitation to the Royal Wedding and her ticket to Diana’s memorial service, which realized £1,300 ($1,660). These letters made their way to California and Kansas, respectively. Luke Macdonald, director at Sworders, said the letters were “so intimate.” “They’re things that otherwise we probably would not be aware of outside the small circles of the Royal family,” he explained further.
This WWII V2 rocket combustion chamber and venturi wreckage, found and repaired by a farmer in Essex, blasted off to a German buyer, who secured the lot for £8,450 ($10,775) (£1,5/2,000).
Blasting off to earn the second-highest price of the sale was a Second World War V2 rocket combustion chamber and venturi wreckage. It landed with a German buyer for £8,450 ($10,775) despite some rusting and a flattened side. According to the auction catalog, the chamber was found by a farmer in Essex, who painted and mounted it onto supporting bars.
Also spiraling upwards to a £8,450 ($10,775) finish was a circa 1870 Victorian cast iron spiral staircase by Robert Boby. Boby, an ironmonger who ran an ironworks shop from St Andrews Street in Bury St Edmunds, manufactured mainly agricultural machinery. According to the auction catalog, this 24-foot-high staircase was originally part of a tower in Rattlesden Church, located in Suffolk. It now resides with a Scottish buyer.
Thirteen gelatin silver print portraits by photographer David Bailey — taken backstage at the Live Aid concert in 1985 — were offered at auction, and a signed photograph of Elton John and George Michael earned the highest price. According to the auction catalog, the portraits were taken for a benefit auction to be hosted by Sotheby’s later that year. The Elton John and George Michael picture is staying in the UK with a buyer who won it for £6,240 ($7,957).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For additional information, 0203-971-2500 or www.sworder.co.uk.
