MRS T... UNDER THE HAMMER

Her most treasured jewels, the whisky decanter that kept her going and a favourite Daily Mail cartoon . . . what will YOU bid?

‘She told me if you wear one full drop of colour, it makes you look taller’

as A PIONEER of powerdressing, Margaret Thatcher will be associated by millions with the blue Aquascutum suit she proudly wore for her bravura farewell speech in the Commons on the day she resigned as Prime Minister in November 1990.

However, the image that the true-blue Tory most wanted people to associate with her was in bright red — a colour linked with Labour.

Cynthia Crawford, her personal assistant for 35 years, said the image of her in a deep-red outfit — pictured here — was, in Mrs Thatcher’s words: ‘How I would like to be remembered.’

The ex-PM wore it on a visit to Japan in 1991 and the picture was taken by photographer Eiichiro sakata, who signed it with a dedication to ‘Mrs Tatcher’. Despite the misspelling of her name, she subsequently hung it in her office in London’s Belgravia.

The photo is among 170 personal items once owned by Lady T being auctioned next month to mark the 40th anniversary of her election as Prime Minister for the first time. Two previous sales of her memorabilia made £4.5 million.

As with most topics, Britain’s first woman PM had strong views on fashion. They were formed at the knee of her seamstress mother Beatrice, who made her clothes as child in Grantham.

Among the outfits being auctioned are a blue dinner suit embroidered with scattered sequins worn at a No. 10 dinner for the 2002 Golden Jubilee. There’s also a gold ensemble by the same British designer, Camilla Milton, worn to the unveiling of her statue in the Commons in 2007. The black velvet evening dress worn at a state banquet in the U.s. with Ronald and Nancy Reagan in 1981 is also for sale.

Two of the most personal items are an amethyst ring and pebble bracelet — gifts from husband Denis in the late sixties. The ring was chosen by her twin children, Carol and Mark. It was on her wrist when she walked into No. 10 for the first time as PM on May 4, 1979 — and when she left in tears 11 and a half years later.

‘Lady T was inseparable from that jewellery,’ said a long-standing friend. ‘They were part of her. They were her most treasured possessions.’ Reserve price is £1,800 for the ring and £2,500 for the bracelet — but auctioneer Christie’s expects them to go for much more.

Cynthia ‘Crawfie’ Crawford said her boss had a restrained taste in jewellery — ‘except on very formal occasions, such as President and Nancy Reagan’s farewell dinner in the White House’.

As for clothes, she recalled: ‘Mrs Thatcher told me that if you wear one full drop of colour in an outfit, it makes you look taller.’

Other sale items include her desk blotter, estimated to fetch £1,200, and the same price for two signature handbags, four pairs of Italian Ferragamo shoes and three hats designed for the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War by Katharine Goodison.

There is also a Henry Moore etching of a woman’s head, reserve price £2,500, which hung above the fireplace in her Downing street flat. The Mail’s legendary cartoonist Mac is represented too, in one of three framed caricatures with a reserve price of £500 to £800.

One fascinating lot, entitled ‘Last day in power’, is a typed schedule for November 28, 1990 — Lady T’s final day as PM. It began with hair styling at 7.45am, her departure from Westminster and later her final audience with the Queen.

The proceeds will go to Carol Thatcher, 65, whose brother, sir Mark, knew nothing about the sale. An unnamed charity will also benefit. THE auctions run from May 2-8; christies.com