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Margaret Thatcher’s personal collection up for sale

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The family of Mrs. Thatcher is ready to sell her personal collection, including her clothes and jewels.

Baroness Thatcher’s personal collection of clothes, jewelry and political mementoes is to be sold off by her family after the Victoria & Albert museum turned down the opportunity to display her wardrobe for the nation.
More than 300 items from Lady Thatcher’s political and personal life are to be sold one-by-one at auction next month, from her red dispatch box to her wedding dress.

The sale is being carried out by Christie’s on behalf of Lady Thatcher’s children Mark and Carol and could see the collection scattered among admirers around the world, rather than be kept by a national institution.

The V&A has already declined an offer to own an archive of Lady Thatcher’s clothing, it has emerged.

The museum said it refused the collection on the basis that they collect only items of “outstanding aesthetic or technical quality” rather than those with “intrinsic social historical value”.

Instead, items of the late Prime Minister’s wardrobe, including her famous power suits, handbags and jewelry, are to be sold at auction, with the proceeds to be split among her children.

A spokesman for the auction house said: “The property is being sold on behalf of beneficiaries of Baroness Thatcher’s estate as part of the arrangements following her death in 2013.

“These auctions present unique opportunities, across price levels, for collectors around the world, to acquire property from the longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 20th century, and the only woman to have held office to date.”

The items had been left as part of Lady Thatcher’s estate, which bequeathed a third of her inheritance to each of her children, Sir Mark and Carol, and the remaining third in trust for her grandchildren.

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It is unclear how much overlap there is between the collection of clothing previously offered to the V&A and items to be sold in the wider collection by Christie’s.

Earlier this year, a treasure trove of papers belonging to Lady Thatcher, valued at £1million, were saved for the nation, after her family donated them in lieu of inheritance tax.

A similarly personal collection of items once belonging to Sir Winston Churchill is held at Chartwell, Kent, his former home now run by the National Trust. While items belonging to former US presidents would be expected to be preserved in the presidential library.

Public institutions will be able to bid on items individually if they choose, but the sale is designed to be “accessible” to members of the public, with lots ranging from £200 to £180,000. The complete collection is estimated to be worth up to £500,000.

Christie’s is to offer 350 of Lady Thatcher’s belongings to the public, working closely with her daughter Carol Thatcher and personal assistant Cynthia Crawford to catalogue them.

They are due to be sold in two batches: one traditional sale at Christie’s on December 15, and one online sale running from December 3 to 16.

Cynthia Crawford, Lady Thatcher’s personal assistant of 36 years, said seeing items together again “brought a tear to her eye”.

Not only does it feature signed copies of her best speeches and red dispatch box she carried them in, it also stars pieces of art, furniture and porcelain from Lady Thatcher’s own home.

Key items from her wardrobe include her famous blue suit, the epitome of political power dressing, the pale coat she wore while memorably driving a tank in a 1986 photocall, and the cloak she wore to meet Ronald Reagan.

One outfit, a stylish black suit-dress, was created especially for her 70th birthday party, attended by the Queen.

Credit: UK Telegraph

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