Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a tragic car accident in Paris on 31 August 1997. On 26 August, Midlands-based Silverstone Auctions hosted a Classic Cars auction, whose main attraction was a Ford Escort RS Turbo S1. The car had been ordered in 1985 by the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, who drove it for three years.
The car was the third Ford Escort Diana owned. The first was given to her in May 1981 by her fiancé, Prince Charles, and she was later gifted a red convertible, which, considered unsuitable for the princess because of security reasons, had to be driven under strict protocols.
See also: 10 Most Expensive Classic Cars Ever Sold at Auction
Diana thus opted for an Escort Turbo RS, a model originally available only with a white finish. Ford's PR department initiated the black repaint, making the Princess of Wales's car the only Series 1 RS Turbo in that colour. The bespoke nature of the car, in addition to the extraordinary provenance, meant that the car ended up being sold to a bidder from Cheshire for £722,500, including the buyer's premium – a record for a Ford Escort.
“This car’s result proves without doubt that physical auctions supported by online and telephone bidders still remain the best way to sell a car”, commented Arwel Richards, Classic Car Specialist at Silverstone Auctions. “Selling a car at auction is one of the few transactions today that relies purely on trust, and requires a specialist auction house with a team of experts, backed by first-class online support and a database of buyers who appreciate our personal touch. The extraordinary result is comparable to the prices of great artworks, but shows that a car can create an emotional connection that links car enthusiasts of all means. The Escort’s sale price was probably the topic of conversation in every pub in the country."
For comparison, the Ford Escort Mk 3 Ghia, which the then Lady Diana Spencer received as a gift from Prince Charles in 1981, was previously sold at auction for £52,000 in 2021. The Audi convertible, which she bought a year and a half after her divorce in 1994, fetched £58,000 in 2017, and remained unsold at its next auction in 2020.
See also: Princess Di’s Iconic Audi Convertible for Sale
Princess Diana has owned a wide variety of cars throughout her life. In addition to the Audi convertible and the three Ford Escorts, there were, for example, a Ford Sierra Cosworth, a Jaguar XJ-SC V12 and a Mercedes-Benz SL 500, which is now housed in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
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