Several keepsakes belonging to the late Duchess of Windsor are going under the hammer in Lichfield on 19 July.
The auction includes a pair of Bergere gold-plated clip-on earrings in a case with an interlinked WE with a coronet – which stands for Wallis and Edward -, five belts and a parcel of unused pre-printed stationery.
The items tell a “story of a life of grandeur,” said Sarah Williams, senior valuer at the Lichfield Auction Centre. “The collection as a whole may not fetch much more than £200, but in terms of living history, these are fascinating items.”
The lot is thought to be worth only about £200 but is still fascinating in terms of living history, according to the auction house.
The items were all auctioned off after the Duchess of Windsor’s death in 1986 and were then put up for sale again in the 1990s when they were bought by a collector from Staffordshire.
The Duchess of Windsor, then known as Wallis Simpson, married the former King Edward VIII six months after his abdication. They spent most of their lives living in France. Wallis outlived the Duke by 14 years and died on 24 April 1986; they are buried next to each other at the Royal Burial Ground.
