Charles and Diana whisky decanters to fetch thousands for cancer charity

Back in the 1980’s souvenirs were produced to mark the celebration of two Royal Weddings. For the occasion of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales’s wedding in 1981 and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s wedding in 1986 Bell’s whisky created bell-shaped decanters.

The Miles Better Million Campaign has recently come across two of these artefacts having been donated to help support their campaign to bring vital radiotherapy services for cancer patients in Doncaster for the very first time.

Jeannette Fish, spokeswomen for the campaign, said: “They were donated as raffle prizes, but we realised they are quite unusual and rare souvenirs that could be worth a lot of money to a collector. We want to auction them off and bring in a lot of cash for the campaign.”

A spokesman for Diageo, owners of the Bell’s brand, who spoke with The Star, has said the decanters were “very collectable” and could fetch considerable sums.

The two whisky decanters that were donated are 750 ml, sealed and still in their original boxes. However, the boxes have suffered some damage over the years.

Online, empty decanters can retail for £20. The decanter featuring Prince Charles and Diana is believed to be the most collectable bringing in £450 or more. According to The Star, one of the porcelain decanters was once sold to a collector for more than £2,500.

If owning a piece of history, whilst helping out a good cause is something that interests you, you can bid on the decanters either individually or as a pair, until 5pm on April 13. Simply send sealed bids by post to: Royal Whisky Decanters Auction, Doncaster Free Press, 39 Printing Office Street, Doncaster, DN1 1TP. Or email your bids to darren.burke@jpress.co.uk, putting Royal Whisky Decanters Auction in the subject box.

The wedding of Prince Charles and Diana took place on 29 July 1981. It was watched by an approximate global TV audience of 750 million and 3,500 people in the congregation at St Paul’s Cathedral.

In order to manage the two million well-wishers that lined the route of Diana’s procession, 4,000 police and 2,201 military officers were on duty. The reception held at Buckingham Palace was a much smaller affair for 120 of the couple’s family and friends. Even with such an intimate group, 27 wedding cakes were made. The official cake took 14 weeks to create with two spares made in case of a disaster.

photo credit: thefoxling via photopin cc