‘The Crown’ props prove popular at London auction

The UK sale of sets, costumes and props from the hit Netflix drama The Crown was due to end Thursday after several showpiece items smashed estimates and netted tens of thousands of pounds.

Hundreds of items – from a signed script to a sports car – featured in the award-winning show went under the hammer in a two-day London auction that included a live sale Wednesday.

That saw a 1987 green Jaguar XJ-SC Cabriolet, used in The Crown to portray a similar model owned by Princess Diana, fetch £70 250 (about R1.7 million) – the highest-priced sale at the auction staged by Bonhams.

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It was more than four times the low estimate price set by the auctioneers.

A reproduction of the Gold State Coach, used for British royal coronations, jubilees and other events, which featured in Seasons 3 and 6 of the show, sold for £56 280.

Meanwhile, a reproduction of Saint Edward’s Chair, known as the “Coronation Chair” and used in Season 1, went for £25 600.

But a replica of the front of 10 Downing Street, the British prime minister’s office and residence, underperformed on its £20 000-£30 000 estimate, selling for for just £10 880.

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Some of the array of costumes worn on-screen by The Crown cast also attracted sizeable bids, with Princess Diana’s clothes and jewellery drawing particular interest.

A custom-made replica of the ceremonial Coronation garments donned by Claire Foy, who portrays Queen Elizabeth II at her 1953 crowning, fetched nearly £20 000.

A version of Diana’s so-called “revenge” dress – a daring off-the-shoulder cocktail dress worn by actress Elizabeth Debicki in the fifth season – sold for £12 800.

The princess had worn the original to a party on the same 1994 day that her then-husband Charles, now the king, admitted on television to an extramarital affair with his now-second wife, Queen Camilla.

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Meanwhile, a reproduction of Diana’s engagement ring, set with a fake sapphire, went for nearly £8 000.

The sale wrapped up on Thursday when dozens of lots were sold via online bidding ended.

Many of the items offered, including sets from the show, have been on view at a special exhibition that has toured New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London since early January.

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Proceeds from Wednesday’s live auction will go towards establishing a scholarship programme at the National Film and Television School, “allowing the next generation of film and television makers to receive world-renowned training”, Bonhams said.