Diana engagement gift car sells at auction

Acar given to Lady Diana Spencer as an engagement present by the Prince of Wales in 1981 has sold at auction for £52,640. The Ford Escort, which Lady Diana received two months before her wedding, has been bought by a museum in Chile. The silver 1.6 Ghia saloon has its original registration plate of WEV 297W, as well as the original paintwork and interior. Auction house Reeman Dansie had expected it to fetch a maximum of £40,000.

The car’s bonnet features a silver ornament of a frog, a replica of the one Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, gave her, symbolising the fairytale story of the princess whose kiss transforms a frog into a prince. The Princess of Wales often drove the vehicle to watch Prince Charles play polo and to go to social events, but stopped using it shortly after Prince William was born in 1982. The Ford was later bought for £ 6,000 by an antiques dealer before passing to a fan of the royals in 2000.

Lewis Rabett, a valuer at Reeman Dansie Auctions, said: “The interest has been considerable pre- auction.” He added: “Ending up in South America is testament to the level of interest globally that there’s been in the car. It’s also testament to Diana and her enduring legacy.”

It is not the first time an item belonging to the Princess has sold for well over the expected sale price. The black taffeta gown made by Elizabeth and David Emanuel that was worn by Diana in March 1981 on one of her first official engagements with Charles was expected to sell for £50,000 when it was auctioned in 2010. It was eventually sold to the Museo de la Moda in Chile for £192,000.

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