A LETTER from the Queen Mother instructing one of her servants to pack some Dubonnet and gin, "in case it is needed", fetched £16,000 yesterday.
The personal note written to William Tallon – affectionately known as Backstairs Billy for his role as Page of the Backstairs – went under the hammer along with hundreds of other mementoes from the monarchy.
The auction in Colchester, Essex, was
being held following Tallon's death last November.
Many of the items listed early in the sale, including Christmas cards from the Queen Mother to Tallon, were snapped up at about £60 each by bidders in a packed auction room. But when it came to the most sought after pieces, they could not compete with those following proceedings online or by telephone.
The most frenzied bidding in the early part of the sale centred on the handwritten note from the Queen Mother to Tallon.
It listed instructions including: "I think that I will take two small bottles of Dubonnet and gin with me this morning, in case it is needed."
Bidding for the letter, which had been expected to fetch £200 to £300, started at £1,100, drawing gasps from the audience. When the telephone bidding war ended at £16,000, applause broke out.
Tallon joined the Royal Household in 1951, aged 15, and worked there for 51 years.
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