In December 2023, Netflix's The Crown concluded its sixth and final season, documenting the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. With an all-star cast, The Crown won 21 Emmys and two Golden Globes over its seven-year run. On Thursday, February 8, Bonhams London offered over 450 costumes, sets, and props from all six seasons at auction. For three weeks prior to the sale, the auction house held an exhibition of the auction lots at its New Bond Street location, which drew over 30,000 visitors, a record-breaking attendance for Bonhams.
The 473-lot auction totaled £1.674 million (about $2.1 million), more than tripling the pre-auction estimate of £525,000 (about $660,000). The most expensive lot sold was the 1987 Jaguar XJ-SC 3.6 Litre Cabriolet used to portray Princess Diana’s personal Jaguar that sold for £70,250, quadrupling its estimate.
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The replica of Queen Elizabeth II's Gold State Coach, which is the only replica ever made, achieved £56,280, almost twice its estimate. The third highest sale was for the Queen's funeral procession model as seen in the last episode of The Crown, which sold for £53,740, six times the estimate. This lot was particularly special as it was built by the National Film and Television School students to whom the sale's proceeds were donated.
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"It is a fantastically fitting end to The Crown to see the props and costumes raise such phenomenal amounts of money for the NFTS Left Bank Pictures scholarship at Bonhams this week," said Andy Harries, Chief Executive of Left Bank Pictures and Executive Producer of The Crown. "It was even more satisfying to see the model of the Funeral Procession go for such a high figure. Crafted by students from the NFTS for season 6 of The Crown it perfectly captures the ethos of The Crown Auction – to give back to the industry which made the series possible."
The most expensive costume was the replica of the Coronation Ceremonial Garments from the coronation scene in Season 1 worn by Claire Foy, which fetched £19,200. However, the ensembles of Princess Diana, played in the series by Emma Corrin (season 4) and Elizabeth Debicki (season 5 and 6), achieved consistently high prices: the dress inspired by Princess Diana’s 'Revenge dress' sold for £12,800 and her engagement ring for £7,680 (pre-sale estimate: £2,000-3,000). Notably, Diana's Harvard sweatshirt sold for more than 10 times its pre-auction estimate of £500 for £5,760.
Related: Princess Diana's 7 Most Expensive Outfits Sold at Auction
Even some of the smallest props from The Crown sold for staggering prices, such as the Audience Room Bell used by Queen Elizabeth II (played by Olivia Colman), which sold for £6,912, over 25 times its pre-sale estimate of £200-300.
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The impressive proceeds of the auction went to fund 50 scholarships at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in Beaconsfield, England, as part of the Left Bank Pictures - The Crown Scholarship program.
"It has been an immense privilege to work with Left Bank Pictures on this incredible sale," said Charlie Thomas, Bonhams UK Group Director for Private & Iconic Collections. "The Crown Auction offered a unique opportunity to own pieces from the landmark show, the closest most of us will get to the real thing. We are delighted with the result – a white glove sale in which everything was 100% sold. It is without doubt testimony to the success of the series and the incredible talent that worked on The Crown.”
