World bids as Princess Margaret’s driving boots promote for £7,000

Princess Margaret’s bespoke driving boots offered for practically £7,000 as a non-public assortment was auctioned for £270,000, practically thrice its pre-sale estimate.

The brown leather-based boots, which have been made by royal equestrian bootmakers Maxwell of London and had an estimate of between £300 and £500, have been knocked down for £6,930, on the Dreweatts sale on Tuesday (9 April).

Joe Robinson, head of home gross sales and collections at Dreweatts, stated: “We’re delighted with the results of the public sale of the personal assortment of Serena, Countess of Snowdon. We noticed aggressive bidding from around the globe for works linked to the royal household and people provided by most of the UK’s famend design figures and corporations, equivalent to Hugh Henry, David Mlinaric, Robert Kime and Rita Konig. This excessive demand for works of remarkable provenance resulted in a 95% promote fee and because of this the sale far exceeded its whole estimate.”

The driving boots have been a spotlight of the sale; the blocks have been stamped HRH Princess Margaret, they usually got here with instances, boot pulls and driving whips. The princess rode from childhood, alongside along with her older sister The late Queen.

Different royal gadgets within the sale included a watercolour and pencil image of the traditional picket coronation chair, commissioned in 1926 by Edward I and on which British monarchs sit throughout their coronations. This had an estimate of between £100 and £150 however offered for £1,512. An ornamental boomerang curtain commissioned by Girl Cutler, the spouse of the governor of New South Wales Sir Roden Cutler, for Princess Margaret offered for over double its estimate, £2,142 in comparison with £800-£1,200.

Mr Robinson stated: “Dreweatts is happy to have had the honour of being entrusted with discovering this stuff new properties. The previous couple of years has seen a renewed curiosity in iconic figures, due to tv programmes equivalent to The Crown. This has additional added to the mystique and public notion of individuals like Princess Margaret, who’re appreciated for his or her sense of fashion, forthright method and contribution to public life.”

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H&H information editor

Eleanor is an skilled journalist who spent over eight years working for native and nationwide newspapers earlier than becoming a member of H&H as information editor in March 2016. Keen about equine welfare and exposing the reality, Eleanor has reported on all features of the business, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage guidelines to mules. Her sport of alternative is showjumping, wherein she competes her personal horses, and he or she additionally enjoys reporting at native leaping exhibits by means of to worldwide championships.