The last remaining cigar in a box of 10 given as a Christmas gift to a policeman by Sir Winston Churchill in 1962 is coming up for auction.
The Victor Hugo cigar, still in its original box, was given to a member of the Kent force drafted into the politician’s protection team. The officer was posted to Chartwell, Churchill’s former country home near Westerham, Kent, in 1962. Churchill bought Chartwell in 1922 and lived there until shortly before his death in January 1965.
The owner of the cigars confessed he had smoked nine of them over time but kept the last one in the box Churchill gave to him. The 59-year-old cigar is now due to go to auction at Hansons in October with a guide price of £150-£250.
Churchill served as Britain’s Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. A man renowned for his love of cigars, he often gifted them or left remains which were picked up and treasured,
In 2019 Hansons sold a Churchill cigar rescued by a cinema usherette. Churchill dropped it at the London Coliseum in 1953. The cigar, encased in special plastic to preserve it, sold for £4,800.
The Churchill Christmas cigar is due to be sold in Hansons’ October 7 Fine Art Auction. To find out more, email: [email protected].
