A photograph of Diana Spencer, relaxing with an unnamed young man just two days after the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, is up for sale at an auction in the US.
The previously
unseen photograph is a black and white print from the early 1980's. It
displays 19-year-old Diana, smiling at the camera, as she relaxes in
the lap of an unidentified young man who is reading a book. A bottle of
Johnny Walker whisky stands nearby on the window sill.
Apparently a London tabloid deemed it too hot to print at the time, as
it is dated February 26, 1981 on the back, just two days after
Buckingham Palace had announced the engagement of Prince Charles and
Diana Spencer.
According to Bobby Livingstone of RR Auctions of Amherst, New Hampshire, the photograph is from the private Caren Archive, which acquired it seven years ago when it bought out the photo library of Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper.
He said
that the photograph would normally sell for around $1,000, "but because
it has that [not-to-be-published] marking on it, we expect it to go for
much more."
"It captures the moment when the engagement had been announced two days
before and the press was going mad over Diana but the Daily Mirror just
wasn't going to publish this picture of her in a comfortable position
with a man other than Prince Charles," he added.
According to Eric Caren, who owns Caren Archive, he does not know who
the man in the photograph is, but many have apparently suggested that
the man is Diana's brother, Charles Spencer.
However, Caren, referring to the Daily Mirror's editors said that, “If it
is her brother, it is more curious why they squashed it.”
“It’s not an unflattering shot. It’s a more intimate shot.”
Internet bidding on the photograph will run on the auction website from January 17 to 24.
36-year-old Diana died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, a year after her divorce from Prince Charles.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/340445
No comments:
Post a Comment