From a stuffed eagle to that Aquascutum suit: How Margaret Thatcher’s final asset selloff made £3.3m
Whatever your views on Margaret Thatcher, it's hard to deny that, given her penchant for privatisations, she'd be proud of this one. An auction of her personal effects – from her blue velvet wedding dress to that handbag – has raised £3.3m.
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Auction house Christie's said the biggest fundraiser was a model of a bald eagle given to the Iron Lady by Ronald Regan in 1984. With an estimated price tag of £5,000-£8,000, the model – which features an inscription thanking her for "staunch and spirited support" – raised a whopping £266,500.
The eagle went to an anonymous buyer (Source: Getty)
Meanwhile, Thatcher's dispatch box, made by Barrow, Hepburn and Gale, also smashed expectations, fetching £242,500, almost 100 times the £3,000-£5,000 estimate.
The box sold to an online buyer after six minutes of bidding.
The disptach box is embossed with the cypher of HM Queen Elizabeth II (Source: Getty)
Among other items on offer (although the main auction has ended, online bidding is still taking place) are pieces from Mrs Thatcher's wardrobe, including her iconic blue woolen suit, and her blue velvet wedding dress.
It also features handbags, including a Launer London bag (offered together with a silk scarf, natch), which was expected to fetch £3,000 (lest we forget, the term "handbagging" entered the Oxford English Dictionary in the 1980s, thanks to Thatcher's "ministerial style in cabinet meetings").
Handbagging, v, "(Of a woman) verbally attack or crush ruthlessly and forcefully" (Source: Getty)