Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Eight hundred items of jewellery, furniture and other possessions of Britain's late Princess Margaret, including her wedding-day tiara, dazzled visitors here Friday, days before they are due to be sold at auction.
Following weeks of smaller shows in Geneva, Hong Kong, Moscow and New York as well as British cities, the London exhibit whetted worldwide appetite for the sale at Christie's auction house next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wealthy Japanese, Hong Kong Chinese, Russians, Swiss, Germans, French and others have all expressed interest in the auction, according to Raymond Sancroft Baker, the head of Christie's jewellery department.
"Sadly, probably most of the pieces will not stay here," Baker told AFP.
The princess, who died in 2002 at 72, was Queen Elizabeth II's only sibling.
The sale stirred sensitive memories because many of the items are family heirlooms, including an Art Deco sapphire and diamond bar brooch personally annotated by her grandmother Queen Mary.
It reads: "For darling Margaret on her confirmation day from her loving Grannie Mary R God bless you April 15th 1946." The piece is estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 pounds (2,750 to 3,700 dollars, 2,200 to 2,900 euros).
"I normally hate the word unique, but I do think this is a unique occasion. We have the sister of the reigning monarch selling 200 lots of jewellery. That is unprecedented," Baker said.
Also going on sale are furniture, silver, works of art and decorative objects.
Margaret's children Viscount David Linley, 44, and Lady Sarah Chatto, 42, hope to pay inheritance taxes with proceeds from the sale which Christies estimated conservatively at two million pounds (2.9 million euros, 3.6 million dollars).
Some of the proceeds will also go to charity.
The Poltimore Tiara, originally created by Garrards in 1870 for Lady Poltimore, the wife of the second Baron Poltimore, is estimated to be worth between 150,000 and 200,000 pounds.
Margaret wore it on several occasions, including at her wedding to Lord (Anthony) Snowdon, and, in its alternative form, as a diamond fringe necklace and scroll brooches before their marriage in 1960.
Snowdon, whose marriage to Margaret ended in divorce in 1978, wrote to Christie's questioning whether his children had the right to sell, but the auction house said the sale was going ahead.
"This private matter has been resolved," Christie's said in a statement.
"No items have been withdrawn from sale and there is no dispute about the title of the property."
An antique diamond riviere necklace, named after Lady Mount Stephen, which was given to Margaret by her grandmother, Queen Mary, is expected to sell for between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds.
A translucent mauve enamelled silver Faberge clock, which was also a gift from Queen Mary, looks set to fetch up to 800,000 pounds.
There is also a gilt hedgehog brooch valued at just 50 pounds and a five-row pearl and diamond Art Deco necklace which the Princess wore when she was photographed by Cecil Beaton for her 19th and 21st birthdays and which is expected to be sold for up to 20,000 pounds.
lc/rjm/sj
AFPLifestyle-Britain-royal-auction-jewellery-fashion
AFP 091710 GMT 06 06
COPYRIGHT 2004 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.
