Earl Spencer's herilooms raise £14M at auction

[wannable]

The article doesn't say it was for charity, so I guess Charles has been hit by the recession and divorces.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/185360/Earl-Spencer-s-heirlooms-raise-14m-at-auction

Althorp is undergoing a £10million restoration and the estate's trustees said they were selling items that were "not core" to the collection. "The aim is to help Althorp thrive for generations to come," they said.

Earl Spencer, 46, who has fathered six children in his previous two marriages, is engaged to Bianca, Lady Eliot, a 33-year-old widow.

His decision to sell the treasures, which include furniture, porcelain and horse-drawn carriages, comes only seven months after he criticised his former stepmother Raine, 80, for selling off family heirlooms when she was married to his father.

Core or not, too bad any part of heirlooms, collections has to be sold, due to the lack of money. It must be stressful to take this decision in the family, one way or another. Its like failing (failure) in the business that one inherits, passing down.

[LairdOfLochaber]

If you go to the Christie's website, the prices being realized are very low for the quality of the merchandise.  At least it seemed so to me.

[wannable]

Yes, I noticed.  The end price is devaluated.

[garysworld1]

Tragic. All aristocrats go through it. So darn sad.