Intimate handwritten letters and cards from Princess Diana to her family’s former housekeeper, Violet Collison, are set to be sold at auction. Collison, known to Diana simply as “Collie,” was the housekeeper at Park House on the Sandringham Estate, where Diana spent her childhood. The two remained close, with Collison sending gifts to Diana and her sons, William and Harry, and receiving thank you letters and Christmas cards in return.
These “intimate” letters, expected to sell for thousands of pounds, will go under the hammer at Stansted Mountfitchet on 30 July.
One notable letter, written on Buckingham Palace notepaper, was sent just three weeks before Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles. “Everyone frantically busy here doing last-minute decorations,” Diana wrote, adding, “The bride-to-be has remained quite calm!”
In another letter from September 1984, Diana thanked Collison for a gift to Prince Harry. “William adores his little brother and spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs and kisses over Harry,” she wrote.
Luke Macdonald, director at Sworders auctioneers, described the letters as “so intimate,” highlighting their rarity and the personal glimpses they offer into Diana’s life. “They’re things that otherwise we probably would not be aware of outside the small circles of the Royal family,” he said. “The fact that she was wanting to say a special thank you – for albeit small presents – really says how kind and generous and caring Diana was.”
While working at Park House, Collison witnessed the births of Diana and her three siblings: Sarah, Jane, and Charles. After the Spencers’ marriage broke down, Collison followed Diana’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd, to London in 1967, before returning to Norfolk to retire. “The lovely environment of Norfolk obviously held a very special place in her heart,” Mr Macdonald told the BBC. “Diana would slip out under the radar without her security to visit Collie for a cup of tea.”
Collison remained close to Frances and the Spencer children until her death at age 89 in 2013. “She was a constant in Diana’s life, somebody she could relate to and perhaps even escape from the world she was in,” Mr Macdonald said. “There was huge affection – she adored her.”
The auction house, based in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, noted global interest in the Diana lots, especially from the United States. In addition to letters, the auction includes framed photographs, Christmas cards, and Ms Collison’s invitations to Princess Diana’s wedding and funeral. Some individual letters have estimates of between £800 and £1,200, though they are expected to sell for more. The auction will take place at Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers on Tuesday, 30 July.
NNEOMA UDENSI
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