Unseen pictures of Princess Diana and Charles with Prince William up for auction in Willingham
By Jo Riley
Previously unseen private photos of Princess Diana and Prince Charles with a three-month-old Prince William are to go under the hammer at Willingham Auctions.
The pictures, from September 1982, show a beaming Charles cradling his infant son and Princess Diana cuddling the newborn.
Other photos show Charles posing next to the Queen, who is wearing a grey and red tartan skirt.
The 22 pictures were taken during a visit by British Airways businessman Baron King, who was a friend of the royal family.
“There were lots of photos taken of Princess Diana but these offer a really personal insight,” said Stephen Drake, an auctioneer at Willingham Auctions.
“The collection of photos is a real one-off, you will never come across another set of photos like this.
“The photo of Charles holding William is such an amazing photo, he looks like such a proud happy father.
“In the photos, Diana, Charles and William look like a complete family group. You see a lot of press photos but these are nothing like those, they are being photographed as normal people, which for royalty is an amazing experience to see.
“As auctioneers we are only custodians of our items for a short amount of time and it’s very exciting to have them here. It really is causing a huge amount of interest.
“The sky is the limit on the price. We have never had anything like this before. Plenty of pictures have been sold of Princess Diana before, but nothing as relaxed as this and nothing as early in her marriage.
“The collection of photos come with the negatives so whoever buys it will own the copyright and that is the premium. There are also no other copies of these photos out there - these are the only ones. We’ll see what happens on the day. We have high hopes.
Other pictures in the unique collection show a relaxed looking Princess Diana and Charles - now King Charles III - sitting on the ground with her green wellies and looking over the royal estate.
Diana, who is wearing blue corduroy trousers and a yellow jumper, has put a blue coat on the ground to sit on.
In another picture Princess Diana, who is wearing a white polo neck, looks lovingly at Prince William as she shows him off to Baron King.
One image shows Diana posing on a gate with the beautiful views of Balmoral behind her.
The photos and negatives will be auctioned at 10am on March 4.