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Iron Lady is auction gold: Thatcher items fetch high prices
A Dec
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A Dec. 11 photo from files showing a Christie's employee holding the red leather Prime Ministerial Dispatch Box at the auction house Christie's in London. (AP/Frank Augstein) (AP/Frank Augstein)
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span class="inline inline-center">A Dec. 11 photo from files showing a Christie's employee holding the red leather Prime Ministerial Dispatch Box at the auction house Christie's in London. (AP/Frank Augstein)
The Iron Lady is auction gold.
Speeches, books and outfits belonging to late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ' including her wedding dress ' have soared above their estimated prices at a London auction.
Christie's is selling 150 lots Tuesday, and a further 200 in an online auction that ends Wednesday.
Thatcher's red prime ministerial dispatch box sparked a bidding war and sold for 242,500 pounds ($365,000). It had been estimated to reach between 3,000 pounds and 5,000 pounds.
A signed copy of the speech Thatcher made on becoming Britain's first female prime minister in May 1979 ' declaring "Where there is discord may we bring harmony" ' sold for 37,500 pounds ($56,460).
The blue velvet dress she wore to her 1951 wedding sold for 25,000 pounds ($38,000), and her copy of the collected works of Winston Churchill fetched 32,500 pounds ($49,000), 10 times its pre-sale estimate.
Branded the "Iron Lady" for her steely determination, Thatcher governed Britain between 1979 and 1990, transforming the country with her free-market policies.
She died in April 2013, aged 87, and the collection is being sold by her family ' though some commentators felt the collection of power suits and iconic handbags should go to a museum. (kes)(+)
