Diana’s letters to former housekeeper sold at auction for more than £54,000

Handwritten letters and cards from Diana, Princess of Wales, to her family’s former housekeeper have sold at auction for more than £54,000.

Violet Collison, whom Diana affectionately called Collie, was head housekeeper to her parents at Park House on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk where Diana spent her childhood years.

More than a dozen letters and cards from Diana were sold at an auction in Essex on Tuesday for £54,500 including buyer’s premium.

The correspondence, auctioned by Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet, reveals that Collie remained in Diana’s thoughts throughout her life.

Most of the letters to Collie are thank-you notes for birthday and Christmas presents given to Diana and her children, William and Harry.

An order of service from the royal wedding was among a series of handwritten letters sent by Diana, Princess of Wales, to housekeeper Violet Collison (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

These notes often include a line or two about Diana’s life at the time.

In one letter, written from Kensington Palace on September 25 1984, Diana thanked Collie for a gift to Harry.

She noted that “William adores his little brother & spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs & kisses over Harry”.

Offered together with a Christmas card from the same year, the lot was sold for £13,000.

A double-sided letter, written on Buckingham Palace notepaper and dated July 8 1981, three weeks before the royal wedding, was sold for £7,150.

In it, Diana wrote “everyone frantically busy here doing last minute decorations … the bride to be has remained quite calm!”.

After the marriage of Diana’s parents ended, Collie followed Diana’s mother to London in 1967, working for her and her new husband until her retirement in 1973.

Collie’s personal invitation to the royal wedding on July 29 1981 and ticket to Diana’s funeral on September 6 1997 were sold together for £1,300.

She was a constant in Diana’s life, somebody she could relate to and perhaps even escape from the world she was in

Luke Macdonald

Luke Macdonald, director at Sworders auctioneers, said the letters were “so intimate”.

He added: “They’re things that otherwise we probably would not be aware of outside the small circles of the royal family.

“The fact that she was wanting to say a special thank you – for albeit small presents – really says how kind and generous and caring Diana was.”

Discussing Collie’s relationship with Diana, Mr Macdonald said: “She was a constant in Diana’s life, somebody she could relate to and perhaps even escape from the world she was in.

“There was huge affection, she adored her.”

Collie died in 2013 at the age of 89.