Car driven by Princess Diana in the 1980s sells for $764K at auction

LONDON — A automobile pushed by Princess Diana within the Nineteen Eighties offered for 650,000 kilos ($764,000) at public sale Saturday, simply days earlier than the twenty fifth anniversary of her dying.

Silverstone Auctions mentioned there was “fierce bidding” for the black Ford Escort RS Turbo earlier than the sale closed.

The U.Okay. purchaser, whose title was not disclosed, paid a 12.5% purchaser’s premium on prime of the promoting worth, based on the traditional automobile public sale home.

Britain and Diana’s admirers worldwide are getting ready to mark 1 / 4 century since her dying. She died in a high-speed automobile crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.

Diana drove the Escort from 1985 to 1988. She was photographed with it exterior boutique outlets in Chelsea and eating places in Kensington. She most well-liked to drive her personal automobile, with a member of her safety crew within the passenger seat.

The RS Turbo Sequence 1 was sometimes manufactured in white, however she acquired it in black to be extra discreet. Ford additionally added options for her safety, equivalent to a second rear-view mirror for the safety officer.

The automobile has slightly below 25,000 miles on it.

Final yr, one other Ford Escort that Diana used offered at public sale for 52,000 kilos ($61,100).