Date: Sat 04-Jul-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

Smythe-Auc-Diana-check

Full Text:

Check Written By Lady Diana Spencer/SS

NEW YORK CITY -- A check made out and signed "Diana Spencer" by the future

Princess of Wales the month before her engagement to Prince Charles was sold

by R.M. Smythe & Co., Inc. at a major autograph auction on June 4 for $3,100.

The check, dated January 15, 1981, drawn on Lady Diana's account at Coutts &

Co., for six pounds, fifty pence, and payable to "Ken Lane," has never been

cashed or canceled. It was purchased from Mr Lane by one of his employees and

has remained in that person's hands until this time. The unidentified buyer of

the check had submitted the winning bid prior to the auction.

"The check is quite remarkable," commented Diana E. Herzog, President of R.M.

Smythe. "It's a poignant reminder of a simpler time for the young woman who

would soon be continuously in the spotlight. We believe this may be the only

check written by Diana that will ever come to public auction," she added.

Three weeks after this check was written, on February 6, 1981, the Prince

proposed, and the formal announcement of the engagement was made February 24,

1981. The Diana check was part of a significant section of material from the

House of Windsor that was part of the auction. Among other items in the

section were:

An extraordinary album of 90 personal mementos of the Duke and Duchess of

Windsor never before seen by the public for $15,000; a bronze Coronation Medal

depicting a crowned Edward VIII, $850; and a photograph portrait of the young

Duchess of Windsor, signed by both the Duchess and the famous society

photographer Cecil Beaton, for $1,700.

A 300 plus piece archive of artworks and documents of John Quincy Adams Ward,

the most famous American sculptor of the Nineteenth Century, responsible for

the statue of George Washington at Federal Hall on Wall Street, the pediment

of the New York Stock Exchange, and Shakespeare in Central Park, sold for

$10,000.

A letter signed by Alexander Majors, founder of the Pony Express, sold for

$1,800, while a photograph of Annie Oakley, signed "very truly yours/Annie

Oakley," sold for $4,500.

A letter from President Kennedy to Major Gordon Cooper, the first American to

spend 24 hours in space, sold for $3,200, and an early postcard photograph

signed by Adolf Hitler, $3,000.

All prices include a ten percent buyer's premium. For information, contact

R.M. Smythe at 800/622-1880 or 212/943-1880.