Diana’s personal belongings head to auction—unseen school pics, letters to childhood friend

Photographs and letters from Katherine Hanbury’s collection reveal what Princess Diana was like in West Heath School in England.

File photo of Princess Diana | John Mathew Smith via Commons

New Delhi: A new collection of never-before-seen pictures and letters of Princess Diana is going up for auction next month at Gorringe’s, in July. The items are from the collection of Katherine Hanbury, a childhood friend of Diana, who attended West Heath School with her between 1973 and 1977. These include four candid, colour photographs of Diana’s school days in the 1970s, along with correspondence from Diana to Hanbury.

Photographs and letters from Hanbury’s collection have been shared with the U.K. auction house Gorringe’s, which is putting them up for purchase starting on 7 July.

Two of the photographs show Diana in her dormitory; one shows the school sports field in the background, and the other is a group photo of Diana and some fellow students relaxing outside in the sun. The collection also includes a simple, handwritten birthday card from Diana to Hanbury, which she signed “Diana (S).” The ‘S’ is for Spencer. 

Princess Diana during her school years, in a photo going up for auction at Gorringe’s | credit: Gorringe’s

Letters and memories

Diana left West Heath at age 16, in 1977, the same year she first met her future husband, then-Prince Charles. They started dating in 1980. The royal couple married on 29 July 1981 and honeymooned at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

From Scotland, Diana wrote the “Honeymoon Letter” to Hanbury. The letter, dated 27 September 1981, reads: “Dear Katherine, I can’t tell you what a lovely surprise I got opening your card. Thank you so much for putting pen to paper and wishing me well…We had a blissful honeymoon with endless sun and luckily calm seas. A million heartfelt thanks for your lovely thought. Much love from an extremely grateful Diana.”

The letter is in three pages on embossed notepaper bearing the royal crest in red at the top of each sheet.  The original envelope, also part of the collection, shows that Diana had sent the letter via registered post. It bears two Perth postmarks dated 29 September 1981 and the Royal cypher (EIIR) stamp.  

The final item in the collection is an order of service for an intimate thanksgiving service held at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on 19 November 1997, two months after Diana died in a car accident.