Princess Diana’s Letters to Childhood Housekeeper Up for Auction

A new collection of Princess Diana’s belongings is going up for auction, offering an intimate glimpse into her private life as a royal.

Several handwritten letters and cards from Diana to her former housekeeper, Violet Collison, will be auctioned by the UK auction house Sworders on July 30. Referred to by Diana as “Collie,” Collison was the head housekeeper of Diana’s childhood home, Park House on the Sandringham Estate.

The collection includes Collison’s invitation to Diana and King Charles III’s 1981 wedding, along with Christmas cards sent by Diana from 1981 to 1994. One of the 1981 holiday cards, bearing a portrait of Diana and Charles from their nuptials, reads, “With all Good Wishes for Christmas and the New Year,” and is signed, “With love from Diana.”

In later years, following her 1996 divorce from Charles, Diana’s Christmas cards featured only her with her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Her 1994 card reads, “Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and new year,” and is signed, “Love from Diana.”

Diana’s handwritten letters to Collison span from 1980 to 1992. In a note from 1981, Diana thanked Collison for congratulating her on her engagement to Charles. “I am surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of letters and telegrams,” Diana wrote on Buckingham Palace stationery. “Both of us are amazed at everyone’s kindness.”

Three weeks before her royal wedding, Diana described her preparations while thanking Collison for a birthday gift. “Everyone frantically busy here doing last-minute decorations … the bride-to-be has remained quite calm!” she wrote.

Diana continued to thank Collison for Christmas presents sent to William and Harry in her letters. In one 1984 letter, she wrote, “William adores his little brother and spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs and kisses over Harry.”

In one of her last letters to Collison, Diana expressed gratitude for her former caregiver’s condolences over the 1992 death of her father, John Spencer, the 8th Earl of Spencer. “I was so touched to receive your letter concerning Daddy,” she wrote. “Thank you for writing and thank you for caring at this difficult time. We all miss him dreadfully as he was such a strong and positive force in our lives.”

While Diana’s Christmas cards have a bidding price range of £200 to £300, her letters are listed for as much as £1,200.

Diana died in 1997 at age 36 following a car accident in Paris. Charles, who became the British monarch following the September 2022 death of Queen Elizabeth II, married Queen Camilla in 2005.

Last year, Harry shared that he once believed his mother’s death was a hoax. “For a long time, I just refused to accept that she was gone,” he shared in a 2023 interview with Anderson Cooper. “Part of [it was] she would never do this to us. But also, part of it maybe [felt like] this is all part of a plan.” Harry added that he and William talked about these thoughts and had similar feelings.

Source: NewsBreak