Like millions of others, I adore the British royal family and cherish the part they play in our country’s rich history and heritage, writes Charles Hanson.
They spark delight across the British Isles during royal visits, inspire flag-waving celebrations enjoyed by thousands during notable occasions, such as royal weddings, and portray a positive image of our nation to the world.
For that reason, I’m always delighted to see any item with royal pedigree or provenance. Famously, in my earlier days as an auctioneer I sold a pair of Queen Victoria’s bloomers.
In May, our hugely successful Harold and Mary Wilson Collection Auction: The Life of a British Prime Minister, saw a watercolour of a chateau in Burgandy by Prince Charles make £10,500 from a low estimate of £3,000.
Paintings such as this rarely, if ever, become available. The prince gave the painting, signed with the initial ‘C’, to Mary Wilson. The lot included handwritten letters from the prince in which he described himself as ‘the apologetic artist’ and hoped his painting wasn’t ‘too dreary and amateur’.
As you would expect, this was a hotly contested lot and I was delighted to see it secure what we believe to be a record hammer price for a Prince Charles painting.
But there were other royal items in that sale which did well. Lot 115, two Christmas cards bearing the signatures of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana, sold for £1,500 from a low estimate of £300. It was one of several royal Christmas cards sent to Harold and Mary Wilson and all exceeded their guide prices.
I’m not surprised. The sturdy, high-quality cards always feature a wonderful picture chosen by the royals, often of family members. But you didn’t have to be a fellow royal or prime minister to receive one.
I was reminded of this when we uncovered yet another remarkable find at Hansons – six wonderful royal Christmas cards amid a box of what we thought were fairly standard stamps.
The long-forgotten cards, sent between 1985 and 1999, featured heart-warming childhood pictures of Prince William and Prince Harry.
All of them had been posted to the late ‘George and Muriel Constable’ from Prince Charles and his late former wife Diana.
The royals’ signatures are on the cards but Diana’s name isn’t on all of them due to her untimely death in a car crash at the age of 36 in 1997.
Due to the scarcity of signatures by Diana, the six cards will go into Hansons’ July 1 Library Auction with a combined estimate of £1,500-£2,000.
The vendor told us the cards and envelopes had remained untouched for around 26 years following Muriel’s death in 1993. She was a stamp and card collector and, together with her husband, ran the post office in Newton Saint Loe, near Bath, in Somerset, a village which is part of the Duchy of Cornwall.
The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate, established in 1337 by Edward III, which funds the public, charitable and private activities of the Prince of Wales and his family. We imagine that’s why Mr and Mrs Constable received the cards.
The current owners never realised they existed. They came across them in a box which used to belong to Muriel. Forgotten for decades, they weren’t sure if they were worth anything but needed to get some stamps valued so asked Hansons to take a look. They were delighted to learn that royal memorabilia such as this is highly collectable.
Personally, I was touched by the poignancy of the cards. They create a pictorial timeline showing the royal princes growing up. It’s a celebration of royal family life.
The princes were aged around one and three on the earliest Christmas card posted in 1985. By the time the last card was despatched in 1999 they were teenagers, almost grown men, aged 15 and 17.
Diana appears on the cards when they were small then, sadly, disappears. Prince William was 15, and Prince Harry only 12 when they lost their mother. They often speak about the deep and lasting impact her loss has had on their lives.
Harry, who’s just discovering the enormous feeling of love and responsibility that comes with being a parent, is now 34 and William, a father-of-three, is 36 – the same age as his mother when she died.
Diana adored her sons and was hugely popular – the nation’s Queen of Hearts. It’s incredible to think we lost her more than 20 years ago. Any royal signature is highly valued but, due to her premature death, her name increases the value of an object even more.
The royal Christmas cards will be sold in Hansons July 1 Library Auction at Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Staffordshire, ST17 0XN. Entries invited until June 7 for Hansons’ Summer Fine Art Jewellery and Library Auction. To find out more or to arrange a free valuation, email [email protected].
