Happy Birthday from Princess

Margaret… Lord Glenconner’s

gifts sell in London

Bonhams will auction cufflinks, a snuff box and more treasures from this right Royal collection

Bonhams is selling the contents of the late Lord Glenconner’s property, ‘Beau House’, St Lucia, on Wednesday September 28 at New Bond Street, London.

The 3rd Lord Glenconner, formerly Colin Tennant, was best known for transforming the barren Caribbean island of Mustique into a luxurious and glamorous playground for the rich and famous.

Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Glenconner Trustees and Estate and, in the words of Bonhams, “reflect a man of taste, foresight and considerable philanthropy, with many objects providing insight into a way of life from a previous era.”

A silver ‘book’ novelty snuff box by John Donald, London 1976

The items from Princess Margaret particularly highlight the close links between the two families. Plenty of the items are estimated at entry-level values.

Lot 85 is a silver novelty snuff box by John Donald, London 1976, in the form of a book. The cover is engraved with a depiction of The Glen, the Glenconner family home in Scotland. The spine has a flush hinge and is engraved GLEN.

The gilt interior is engraved ‘to Colin for your 50th birthday with Love from ‘crowned’ MR’, length 6.5cm, weight 3.5oz. It is estimated to sell for £1,000-1,500.

A pair of double-sided cufflinks in green chalcedony spheres

Elsewhere in the sale, Lot 142 is a pair of double-sided cufflinks in green chalcedony spheres, presented to Lord Glenconner by Princess Margaret on another of his birthdays. They are estimated to sell for £1,000-1,500.

Margaret’s diamond-studded tiara
sold for £926,400 in 2006

While these items carry low estimates, the late Prince Margaret is no stranger to the higher end of the auction markets.

The recent Royal marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wasn’t the first to capture the public’s hearts and minds. In fact, Princess Margaret’s marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey was the first Royal wedding to be broadcast on television in May 1960.

Margaret’s diamond-studded tiara for the occasion – originally made in 1870 by Garrard for Lady Poltimore, the wife of the second Baron Poltimore and Treasurer to Queen Victoria’s household – sold for £926,400 at a Christie’s auction in 2006.

Fourteen years after her death, Princess Diana remains Britain’s favorite royal.

A new survey by the Internet communications company Skype showed Diana as the royal most Britons would like to have a chat with. Behind her came her son, Prince William, and her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, who married Prince William in a globally televised ceremony in April, is seventh on the list. She is behind Henry VIII, Queen Victoria and Prince Harry.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who is married to Diana’s ex-husband, the Prince of Wales, is in last place.

Diana, her boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed and their driver Henri Paul, died in a car accident 14 years ago today in a Paris tunnel. The two men were pronounced dead at the scene, but Diana, then 36, was taken to a hospital, where she died a short while later.

She is buried in Althorp, the Spencer family estate. (cbsnews.com)