Fun Lobby

LONDON (AFP) - Memorabilia belonging to a former British royal servant -- including a letter from the late princess Diana after the birth of Prince William -- shattered pre-sale estimates at auction Saturday.
 
William Tallon, known as Backstairs Billy, served the royal family for 51 years until his death last year aged 72.

The 700 lots -- which sold for nearly 450,000 pounds (569,000 euros, 892,000 dollars), almost double their estimate -- also included a note highlighting Queen Elizabeth II's late mother's penchant for gin.

Eight letters from Diana to Tallon fetched a total of 20,000 pounds and included one written after William's birth in 1982 which read: "We are not sure at the moment what has hit us, except a very strong pair of lungs!

 "Both parents are making little sense, we just seem to spend most of our time gazing at this tiny person!"

Diana, whose marriage to heir to the throne Prince Charles ended in divorce in 1996, died in a Paris car crash aged 36 the following year.

A hand-written note from the queen mother, who died in 2002 aged 101, to Tallon read: "I think that I will take two small bottles of Dubonnet and gin with me this morning, in case it is needed." It fetched 16,000 pounds.

The items went under the hammer in Colchester, eastern England