[ad_1]
LONDON — A car driven by Princess Diana in the 1980s sold for over $850,000 at auction Saturday, just days before the 25th anniversary of her death.
Silverstone Auctions said there was “fierce bidding” for the black Ford Escort RS Turbo before the sale closed. The U.K. buyer, whose name was not disclosed, paid a 12.5% buyer’s premium on top of the selling price, according to the classic car auction house.
Britain and Diana’s admirers worldwide are preparing to mark a quarter century since her death on Aug. 31, 1997.
Princess Diana’s life and legacy:How old she was when she died, how old she’d be now
Diana drove the Escort from 1985 to 1988. She was photographed with it outside boutique shops in Chelsea and restaurants in Kensington. She preferred to drive her own car, with a member of her security team in the passenger seat.
The RS Turbo Series 1 was typically manufactured in white, but she got it in black to be more discreet. Ford also added features for her security, such as a second rear-view mirror for the protection officer.
The car has just under 25,000 miles on it.
Last year, another Ford Escort that Diana used sold at auction for 52,000 pounds ($61,100).
Timeline:Princess Diana’s life and the events that made her who she was
How did Princess Diana die?
Diana died in a car crash, along with two other passengers. She was traveling with her boyfriend at the time, Egyptian filmmaker Dodi Al-Fayed. After dining at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, Princess Diana and Fayed left the hotel, hounded by paparazzi and accompanied by French driver Henri Paul and Diana’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones.
At 12:19 a.m., the Mercedes that Princess Diana was in crashed into another car and a pillar of the Pont de l’Alma tunnel. Later reports found the car may have been traveling over 60 miles an hour through the narrow streets, History.com reports. Investigations also found that the driver’s blood alcohol levels were over three times the legal limit in France, exacerbated by the prescription anti-depressants he was taking.
Fayed and Paul died at the scene, but Diana died several hours later in the hospital as a result of crash-related injuries, History.com writes. The only survivor of the crash was Rees-Jones.
French police also detained several photographers and press motorcyclists who had been following them and taken pictures immediately after the crash. They were later released and cleared of manslaughter charges.
In 2008, 11 years after the crash, a jury concluded that the three deaths were due to a combination of reckless driving, the following paparazzi vehicles and the fact that the passengers were not wearing seatbelts.
How old was Princess Diana when she died?
Princess Diana was 36 years old when she died on Aug. 31, 1997. Prince Charles was 48 when she died. At the time, her two sons were barely teenagers. Prince William was 15 and Prince Harry 12.
Harry opened up about his mental health after losing his mom in a 2021 Apple TV+ docuseries “The Me You Can’t See,” which he created with Oprah Winfrey.
Princess Diana 1995 bombshell interview:BBC investigating claim she was coerced by reporter
“Family members have said just play the game and your life will be easier, but I’ve got a hell of a lot of my mum in me,” he said. “I feel as though I’m outside of the system, but I’m still stuck there. The only way to free yourself and break out — it’s to tell the truth.”
Contributing: Clare Mulroy
[ad_2]
Source link