A black Asprey handbag once owned by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fetched £25,000 at a charity auction yesterday. The Iron Lady owned the purse for more than 30 years, and was even photographed carrying it while visiting the United States and meeting then president Ronald Reagan in 1985.
The purse was amongst several high profile items auctioned off by Thatcher’s good personal friend, author and former politician Sir Jeffrey Archer. They included Lawrence Dallaglio’s match ball from England’s 2003 rugby World Cup victory, Lord Archer’s stopwatch which timed Roger Bannister’s sub-four-minute mile, Eric Clapton’s Fender Telecaster guitar, and an Andy Warhol drawing of the dearly departed Princess Diana.
The lucky new owner is a Cypriot man who studied in Britain during Thatcher’s prime ministerial term. He was quoted as being a “great admirer” of the former British leader, as I suppose you’d have to be to part with that kind of cash. However it might have been a bargain, as auctioneers expected it to fetch four times that amount!
Lady Thatcher’s daughter Carol was amongst the excited bidders in the Christie’s showroom in central London. She said her mother was keen to learn how much the bag raised for her favorite charities. These included the British Forces Foundation, Combat Stress, and Debra, a group dedicated to helping sufferers of the debilitating skin disease epidermolysis bullosa.
[Source: The Guardian]
[Image Source: Wikipedia Commons]
