A museum in South America bought the car, which the princess received just two months before she and Charles tied the knot at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and continued to use until August 1982 when it was sold to a private owner.
“Ending up in South America is testament to the level of interest globally that there’s been in the car,” saidReeman DansieAuctions' Lewis Rabett. “It’s also testament to Diana and her enduring legacy.”
Princess Diana driving her Ford Escort.Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty
Since its initial sale in 1982, shortly after the birth ofPrince William, the car has spent the majority of the past 20 years in the care of a “great admirer” of Diana, who has largely kept the vehicle safely stowed away in a garage.
“The car has been dry stored for quite a few years,” said Rabett before the auction.
“This is really nice because keeping it stored in a dry barn or garage has kept it in a really nice condition. Escorts of that age weren’t like modern cars with really good galvanizing and rust proofing, so a lot of them have just rusted away. Now, 40 years later, you don’t tend to find Escorts at all, let alone ones with the provenance of this car.”
Princess Diana in her Ford Escort.Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty
The car itself has done just 83,000 miles since Diana first grabbed hold of its steering wheel. It retains its original paintwork and upholstery, and its original license plate: WEV 297W.
Princess Diana’s Ford Escort.Reeman Dansie Auctions
Reeman Dansie Auctions
In an especially personal touch, the car’s hood also features a silver frog mascot. This is a copy of a wedding gift to Diana from her sister, Lady Sarah Spencer, to remind her of the fairy tale of how a kiss from a beautiful girl turns a frog into a prince.
“I’ve driven the car myself and it’s a lovely step back in time,” added Rabett about the Ford, which Diana was regularly photographed driving or sitting inside to watch Charles play polo.
“Even the radio is a 1980s Ford radio,” he noted. “Nobody has changed it and fitted a super modern thing, so it’s just as Diana would have driven it.”
Inside Princess Diana’s Ford Escort.Reeman Dansie Auctions
Rabett continued, “It was very surreal to sit behind the wheel and think who would have been there at an early part of her life when she was young and before she went on to do all that she did in her unfortunately very short life.”
He added, “Just the fact it’s silver makes a difference. It’s a very bright shade of silver and just really shines in the sunlight.”
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The sale of the car coincides with the opening of a new exhibit calledRoyal Style in the Makingat Kensington Palace, London, which includes a display ofDiana’s intricate wedding dressfor the first time in 25 years.
source: people.com
