Princess Diana's 1981 Ford Escort is up for auction
Updated: It was a Ford fit for a princess and after being in private hands for several decades, the famed Ford has been sold at auction.UPDATE 30 June 2021: The Ford Escort once owned by Princess Diana was sold at auction in the UK overnight for £52,640 ($96,976 AUD), well over its initial estimate of £30,000-40,000. The highest bidder was a museum in Chile.
Princess Diana’s 1981 Ford Escort Ghia sedan was gifted to her by Prince Charles for their engagement in May 1981, two months before the Royal Wedding and had been used by her until August 1982.
For the last 20 years, the small car had been in the hands of a private owner who is a great admirer of Princess Diana and has always cherished the car and its Royal history. So much so that she had kept its Royal provenance a secret from her friends, until now.
The car still has its original WEV 297W rego plates and looks to be in an incredibly original condition with its original paint and upholstery, and only 83,000 miles (133,575 km) on the clock.
The Ford was Princess Diana’s personal transport in the early and happiest part of her relationship with the Prince of Wales and there are numerous photographs of her driving it and even her watching Prince Charles playing polo while sitting inside it.
Lovers of the Netflix series The Crown would also recognise the vehicle as one of many cars Diana had used before slowly graduating to more luxurious cars including her green Audi Quattro convertible which was sold for £58,000 last year. Princess Di also owned the only black Ford Escort RS Turbo S1 ever made.
One of the car’s more identifiable features is its unique silver frog mascot which sits on the bonnet. It is a copy of a gift from Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah Spencer, to remind her of the fairy tale of a girl whose kiss turns a frog into a prince.
The Princess’ Ford is estimated to go for £30,000-40,000 ($54,884 - $73,179 AUD) at the Reeman Dansie’s Royal Auction on 29th June 2021.
James Grinter, the Managing Director of Reeman Dansie said he was amazed by the originality of the car which is important to collector’s who put a high value on owning something that was a personal possession of the late Princess.
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