Of course the focus of the world is primarily on the next generation, led by her son Prince William and the daughter-in-law she never knew, Kate Middleton, but interest in Diana herself has been seen consistently before and after the latest Royal Wedding.
| Chares and Diana's wedding was watched by 750 million people |
We recently reported that a piece of her wedding cake was one of the exhibits at the London Olympia (coincidentally the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding cake is on display at Buckingham palace, along with Kate's wedding dress).
One the opening edition of British TV show Four Rooms last month, one of the lots was a series of Christmas cards signed by Diana which sold for £10,000 (though as the result of a rather strange deal - both buyer and seller thought they were worth much more).
Most excitingly, a range of Diana's dresses is going under the hammer later tonight (we'll bring you the results of that sale just as soon as they come in).
But another sale of Diana memorabilia has already taken place this week, with British auctioneer Reeman Dansie selling a range of letters, cards and autographed pictures.
The letters, to friend Margaret Hodge, are most notable for maintaining a bright, breezy façade even when written during what were later revealed to be traumatic times in the Princess's life, including the start of Charles's affair with Camilla and Diana's post-natal depression.
Several of the lots did better than expected - indeed the listings seemed to somewhat underestimate the continuing interest.
For example a letter written a few months after Prince William's birth, thanking Hodge easily doubled its £900 top estimate to sell for £1,900 (plus buyer's premium). Even this seems quite reasonable for such a strong alternative investment.
Particularly interesting was signed photograph of Diana - a smaller, more basically framed and less impressive version of this one - which sold for £2,000 (plus buyer's premium). This was double the listing of £500 - £700.
